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posted by CoolHand on Thursday July 16 2015, @05:00PM   Printer-friendly
from the if-at-first-we-dont-succeed dept.

The plane, called Solar Impulse 2, recently completed the longest leg of its global flight -- a five-day, five-night journey from Nagoya, Japan, to Hawaii. During that trip, the plane's batteries overheated and sustained "irreversible" damage, according to a statement from the team.

The next leg of the journey, which would have taken the plane to Phoenix, was set for as early as this week.

The team said the temperature of the batteries during quick ascents and descents in a tropical climate was "not properly anticipated."

"The damage to the batteries is not a technical failure or a weakness in the technology," the team said. "Setbacks are part of the challenges of a project which is pushing technological boundaries to the limits."

I'm looking forward to the next flight record being set by an ornithopter.


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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2015, @05:23PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2015, @05:23PM (#210056)

    What, then, is a "technical failure"? I can see how one might argue that it doesn't show a weakness in the technology, but it sure as hell sounds like a technical failure. The batteries failed, and they failed from the manner in which they were being used (as opposed to failing from something like being dropped off of a truck).

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  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by ikanreed on Thursday July 16 2015, @05:39PM

    by ikanreed (3164) Subscriber Badge on Thursday July 16 2015, @05:39PM (#210064) Journal

    They're desperately afraid of this being cast as an insurmountable failure of solar technology, rather than a design failure the engineers who built the plane.

    That doesn't excuse clearly incorrect statements, but it explains it.

    • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2015, @06:17PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 16 2015, @06:17PM (#210081)

      Agreed! They were stressing the batteries (far?) beyond their tolerance and damaged them. This can happen to any battery chemistry, but of the 3 common ones (Pb, Ni, Li) Lithium is the most susceptible, to the point I kind of wonder why a cell didn't catch fire!