Mountain View (California): Solar-powered plane, Solar Impulse 2, crossed the Mojave Desert on its way from California to Arizona on the latest leg of its round-the-world journey.
Solar Impulse 2 took off from Mountain View (in northern California) shortly after 5 a.m. Monday for an expected 16-hour flight to Phoenix. By midday it was crossing desert northwest of Los Angeles at an altitude of around 23,000 feet.
Swiss pilot Andre Borschberg is flying the plane, which began its globe-circling journey last year. Solar Impulse 2 flew from Hawaii to the Silicon Valley last week.
The wings of the plane are equipped with 17,000 solar cells that power propellers and charge batteries.
After Phoenix, the plane will make two more stops in the United States before crossing the Atlantic.
The aircraft began its voyage in March 2015 from Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates and made stops in Oman, India, Myanmar, China and Japan.
After Solar Impulse 2's flights across the U.S., it's scheduled to undertake two final flights over the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea before landing back in Abu Dhabi.
