The fastest world tour in history. How to fly around the earth in 2 days?

July 9, at 16:32 Moscow time, from the runway in the Space Center. John Kennedy in Florida (USA) flew an unusual plane. His task is to set a world record for the fastest flight of the Earth through the North and South Poles of the planet. To do this, in approximately two days it is necessary to overcome a total distance of 41,526 kilometers at a speed of 838 km / h and land at the same airfield in the USA on July 11.

The flight, called One More Orbit, is timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the first man landing on the Moon in history recorded in late July. Read how the preparation for this historic event.

The fastest business jet

To attempt to set a new recordused aircraft Gulfstream G650ER - jet business jet. The fastest aircraft in its class. He is able to reach speeds of 982 kilometers per hour and has a maximum range of 13,890 kilometers at an altitude of 15.6 kilometers.

Photos from the cockpit

Gennady Padalka joined the international crew

On board the record holder isinternational crew of nine. In addition to the former astronaut of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Terry Werts and the British pilot Hamish Harding, representatives from the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, Poland, Ukraine, and South Africa are also on board.

Terry Verst publishes the mission’s progress on his Twitter account. Also available live on YouTube.

This morning, the hero has joined the crewRussian pilot-cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, with whom Verts previously worked on an expedition on the International Space Station (ISS). A meeting of colleagues took place in Nur-Sultan, the capital of Kazakhstan, where the plane landed for the first refueling after flying around the North Pole. The flight from the USA, across the North Pole and the territory of Russia to Kazakhstan took 12 hours and 12 minutes.

Flying North Pole

Gennady Padalka joined the team

Already on the plane

A small photo session with the residents of Nur-Sultan

Padalka holds the world record for totalthe duration of work in orbit is 878 days 11 hours 29 minutes 24 seconds. He flew 5 times in space. The cosmonaut has 10 spacewalks, the total duration of which was 38 hours 39 minutes.

World Tour Route

The second stop for refueling was waiting for a team in Port Louis (on the island of Mauritius) in the Indian Ocean.

Aircraft refueling

According to the Twitter report of the One More Orbit project,Gennady Padalka flew with the crew on the Nur-Sultan - Port Louis route and stayed in Mauritius. On Thursday, according to the organizers of the round-the-world flight, the Russian cosmonaut will meet with the Prime Minister of Mauritius. Meanwhile, the Gulfstream G650ER aircraft headed for the South Pole, the next stop will be in Punta Arenas (Chile).

Round the world length of 41526 kilometersshould end July 11 at Cape Canaveral. From the same place where it began. The crew is trying to break the record set by the Bombardier Global Express in November 2008. Then the Earth with the intersection of both poles managed to go around for 52 hours 32 minutes. And the average flight speed was about 882 km / h. The Gulfstream G650ER flies faster, so there is every chance to set a new world speed record.

As the organizers of the flight One More Orbit,every minute counts. At the same time, success largely depends not only on the crew of the aircraft, but also on people on Earth. In the process of refueling, every move should be honed. It is noted that they took the teamwork from the Formula 1 racing series, where speed is essential for winning, as the basis.

As indicated on the project website, for eachaircraft refueling is 45 minutes. However, the team will try to reduce this time to 30 minutes. Refueling in Kazakhstan was 18 minutes faster than scheduled. In Mauritius, refueling was made another 50 seconds faster than in Kazakhstan.