Solar Impulse 2 Needs EUR 20 Million to Complete Round-the-World Flight

[tfcrew]

Too bad the flight has fouled out.

The team behind the sun-powered Solar Impulse 2 plane on Tuesday said it needed an additional EUR 20 million (roughly Rs. 140 crores) to complete a historic round-the-world flight, after battery damage grounded it for months.
A spokeswoman for the record-breaking project told AFP this figure was just an "initial estimation" and that the funds would cover the salaries of 150 people, logistics and material for the coming year.
The plane suffered irreversible damage to parts of its battery system during a gruelling, five-day journey from Japan to Hawaii.
The project had initially hoped the repairs could be completed within weeks, but the extent of the damage grounded the plane in Hawaii until at least April of next year.
Solar Impulse 2 has been flown alternatively by Swiss businessman and pilot Andre Borschberg and his partner Bertrand Piccard, also a Swiss national and an aviator.
Piccard is reportedly in Europe seeking to raise the money to sustain the project which hopes to fly an aircraft around the world without using a drop of fuel.

http://gadgets.ndtv.com/science/news/solar-impulse-2-needs-eur-20-million-to-complete-round-the-world-flight-721206