U.S.A. / SPORTS
Page 8 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
May 2, 2016
Solar-powered plane completes journey across Pacific Ocean
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP)
— A solar-powered airplane
landed in California, completing
a risky, three-day flight across
the Pacific Ocean as part of its
journey around the world.
Pilot Bertrand Piccard landed
the Solar Impulse 2 in Mountain
View, in the Silicon Valley south
of San Francisco, at 11:45pm
following a 62-hour, nonstop solo
flight without fuel. The plane
taxied into a huge tent erected on
Moffett Airfield where Piccard
was greeted by the project’s team.
The landing came several
hours after Piccard performed a
fly-by over the Golden Gate
Bridge as spectators watched the
narrow aircraft with extra-wide
wings from below.
“I crossed the bridge. I am
officially in America,” he declared
as he took in spectacular views of
San Francisco Bay.
Piccard and fellow Swiss pilot
Andre Borschberg have been
taking turns flying the plane on
an around-the-world trip since
taking off from Abu Dhabi, the
capital of the United Arab
Emirates, in March 2015. It made
stops in Oman, Myanmar, China,
Japan, and Hawai‘i.
The trans-Pacific leg was the
riskiest part of the plane’s global
travels because of the lack of
emergency landing sites.
The aircraft faced a few bumps
along the way.
The Solar Impulse 2 landed in
Hawai‘i in July and was forced to
stay on the islands after the
plane’s battery system sustained
heat damage on its trip from
Japan. The team was delayed in
Asia, as well. When first
attempting to fly from Nanjing,
China, to Hawai‘i, the crew had to
divert to Japan because of
unfavorable weather and a
damaged wing.
A month later, when weather
conditions were right, the plane
departed from Nagoya in central
Japan for Hawai‘i.
The plane’s ideal flight speed is
about 28 mph, though that can
double during the day when the
sun’s rays are strongest. The
carbon-fiber aircraft weighs more
than 5,000 pounds, or about as
much as a midsize truck.
The plane’s wings, which
LONG LEG COMPLETED. The Solar Impulse 2 flies over San Francisco on April
23, 2016. The solar-powered airplane landed in California, completing a risky, three-day
flight across the Pacific Ocean as part of its journey around the world. The project, which
began in 2002 and is estimated to cost more than $100 million, is meant to highlight the
importance of renewable energy and the spirit of innovation. (AP Photos/Noah Berger)
stretch wider than those of a
Boeing 747, are equipped with
17,000 solar cells that power
propellers and charge batteries.
The plane runs on stored energy
at night.
Solar Impulse 2 will make
three more stops in the United
States before crossing the
Atlantic Ocean to Europe or
Northern Africa, according to the
website
documenting
the
New and familiar Asian faces begin National
Women’s Soccer League’s historic fourth season
Continued from page 7
2014. Upon her arrival, Sky Blue head
coach Jim Gabarra called Kerr “one of the
most promising young players in the
world” and said they had been watching
her for some time.
Kerr wants to help Sky Blue climb from
the bottom half of the league, where they
have finished the past two seasons, a climb
that has already begun in 2016. In their
opening match, New Jersey defeated the
two-time defending NWSL Shield winner,
Seattle Reign FC, at Seattle’s Memorial
Stadium, where they had previously been
unbeaten.
Leading off the scoring in that match
was Natasha Kai of Hawai‘i, the striker
who has returned to Sky Blue after a long
layoff playing rugby with the U.S.
Women’s Sevens squad. Kai was a
standout with the Philadelphia Indepen-
dence and Sky Blue when those teams
played in the Women’s Professional Soccer
(WPS) league, which folded in 2011.
Kai led her WPS teams to two different
championship games, including Sky Blue’s
victory in 2009 and the Philadelphia
Independence’s loss to the Flash in 2011.
Kai’s return to U.S. pro soccer will bring
her veteran leadership and an energetic
personality to the club.
Other Asian players to watch this
season include Caprice Dydasco, a fullback
from Hawai‘i whose role should grow with
the Washington Spirit after she appeared
in just six games in 2015. Two other
standouts are goalkeeper Lydia Williams
of the Houston Dash and striker Kyah
HISTORIC SEASON. Meleana “Mana” Shim (left photo) of the Portland Thorns is starting her fourth sea-
son with the club. Pictured in the right photo is Abby Erceg, who was acquired in the offseason by the Western
New York Flash after spending two seasons with the Chicago Red Stars. (AR Photos/Jan Landis)
Simon of the Boston Breakers, both
Australian players with Aboriginal roots.
Williams is returning to NWSL
following 46 appearances with the
Australian women’s national team and
several seasons with Canberra United in
Australia’s Westfield W-League. Simon
has played with the Breakers since 2013,
but missed large chunks of time because of
the Women’s World Cup and a knee
surgery in 2014. In just seven games with
the Breakers last season, Simon still
managed to score twice and will be an
exciting presence on the pitch in 2016.
With so many players to follow and root
for, Asian sports fans can look forward to
another exciting NWSL season this
year.
journey.
The project, which began in
2002 and is estimated to cost
more than $100 million, is meant
to highlight the importance of
renewable energy and the spirit
of innovation. Solar-powered air
travel is not yet commercially
practical, however, given the
slow travel time, weather, and
weight constraints of the air-
craft.
Tibetans in exile
re-elect Lobsang
Sangay as PM
Continued from page 2
to fight for basic freedoms and genuine
autonomy for Tibetans living under
Chinese rule in Tibet.
In April, he called for China to engage in
dialogue on autonomy for his people’s
homeland. Stressing that a dialogue with
China would be his main initiative, he said
he hoped Chinese President Xi Jinping
would look at the Tibetan issue and take
the initiative to hold talks with Tibetan
exiles.
Sangay called the results of the election
“the consolidation of democracy” and said
an increased participation of Tibetans in
the voting process reflected their maturity.
“By democratic standards, the exile
Tibetan democracy is now a full-fledged,
consolidated democracy,” he said.
The international community, he said,
should look at his administration as a
legitimate democratic identity. He said the
exiled government “in many ways”
reflected the aspirations of Tibetans inside
Tibet.
Tibetan officials in exile say at least 114
monks and laypeople have set themselves
on fire to protest Chinese rule over their
homeland in the past five years, with most
of them dying. U.S. government-backed
Radio Free Asia puts the number of
self-immolations at 144 since 2009.
Beijing blames the Dalai Lama and
others for inciting the immolations and
says it has made vast investments to
develop Tibet’s economy and improve the
quality of life.
Two Malaysians plead guilty to wildlife smuggling
The Asian Reporter Foundation’s 2016
banquet airs on Portland Community Media
on cable channels 29 & 30 in May:
n Tuesday, May 3 at 11:30am (Channel 30)
n Friday, May 6 at 1:00pm (Channel 30)
n Sunday, May 8 at 7:00pm (PCM channel 29)
For more information, call (503) 288-1515 or visit <www.pcmtv.org>.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Two
Malaysian nationals pleaded guilty to
smuggling wildlife into the United States
and were sentenced by a judge in Portland,
Oregon, to six months in federal prison.
The investigation began three years ago,
when authorities found a helmeted
hornbill mandible while searching an
international package headed to Forest
Grove, Oregon. Undercover agents then
purchased orangutan skulls, bear claws, a
wild pig skull, and other parts.
Prosecutors said the men — 35-year-old
Eoin Ling Churn Yeng and 33-year-old
Galvin Yeo Siang Ann — owned an online
business that was responsible for
smuggling $95,000 worth of endangered
wildlife parts into the U.S. since 2004.
After the plea and sentencing, U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service Deputy chief
Edward Grace said orangutans are one of
the rarest great ape species, and
possessing such a skull as a trophy won’t
be tolerated.
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