Regina Walters onto Science
Clipped May 15
That's so awesome.
It took 584 days and 37,286 miles, but a solar-powered boat entered the record books after completing a voyage around the world. Ben Schiller writes in co.exist that the biggest obstacle facing the MS Turanor PlanetSolar and its crew was not navigating on a sustainable energy source but rather the centuries-old threat of pirates. "It was one month with soldiers onboard, and a lot of stress," 39-year-old captain Raphaël Domjan told Schiller. "We were at 5 knots with the solar energy, and we were between Yemen and Somalia. In Yemen, with the soldiers and guns we had, we could have gone to jail. And in Somalia, we could be hostages, and eat rice for one year." Along with a desire to promote global conservation efforts, Domian says he was inspired to take the unique voyage after reading the works of famed author Jules Verne, who wrote "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea."
