Solar Impulse Just Completed Its Momentous Flight Around the World

Solar Impulse 2 touched down in Abu Dhabi today, becoming the first fuel-free plane to successfully circumnavigate the globe. OK, so the 22,000-mile trip took a minute: The solar-powered bird lifted off from the same city in March 2015. But despite a few setbacks, the plane and the Swiss pilot Bertrand Piccard (who took shifts with fellow flyer André Borschberg) touched down without incident.

Solar Impulse 2 is a seriously nifty machine. Its 236-foot wingspan makes it wider than a Boeing 747, but the thing is just 5,000 pounds. 17,000 rigid, photovoltaic panels charge four uber-efficient batteries, the which make up nearly a third of the weight. Its four 17.4-horsepower motors are definitely not the fastest: The plane tops out around 90 mph, and Traveled at an average of 38 mph across the Pacific. (Yeah, we'd Honk at it on the highway, too.)But the slow speed did not seem to bother Piccard and Borchberg, who used yoga, meditation, and breathing exercises to get through day-long stretches in the plane's coffin-like cockpit. Also making history seems to be worth sleeping in 20-minute spells-the pilots did that, too.