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The attempt to break a record in a hot air balloon failed * the helium escaped from the balloon on the ground

Britons Andy Elson, 48, and Colin Prescott, 53, wanted to complete their seven-hour journey to the edge of the atmosphere. The goal: to break the world record for altitude flight in a hot air balloon and reach a height of 132 thousand feet (40,233 meters)

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The attempt to break a height record in a hot air balloon failed
Avi Blizovsky, update: 10:40
A British team attempting to break the height record for a manned balloon has meanwhile given up on the mission after a last-minute mishap.
The two failed to inflate the balloon before 06:55 British Summer Time (08:55 Israel time). The balloon inflated to a height of 15 meters and then the helium began escaping from the polyethylene structure and the balloon collapsed.
The project was frozen and an investigation began. Initial indications raise the possibility that a valve delivering helium to the Kinetic 1 balloon or a seam in the shell itself failed.
Pilots Colin Prescott and Andy Elson were trying to break a 42-year-old record held by two Americans who reached an altitude of 113,740 feet (34,668 meters) above the Gulf of Mexico.
Elson, who designed the balloon, said the team was disappointed, but added: "I am absolutely convinced that the achievement is possible."
It is unlikely that the two will be able to make another launch attempt this year.
"The balloon is so big and it will take at least two weeks to assess the damage - and the whole balloon needs to be re-inspected - so we're going to miss the window of good weather this year," said Brian Jones, the mission's chief controller.



The attempt to conquer the height record in a hot air balloon has been postponed for today

Avi Blizovsky, 03/9/03 time 00:00

Weather conditions caused the postponement of the attempt to break the record. Two British pilots postponed for today their attempt to achieve a height record in a manned hot air balloon. This is due to unfavorable weather conditions that prevailed in the south of England on the morning of Tuesday, August 2, the original day when the experiment was supposed to take place. (Update: Avi Blizovsky)

Elson (left) and Prescott. will take off from the sea.



5 hours in a hot air balloon to the edge of the atmosphere


By Yuval Dror
Haaretz, 2/9/03


Today two Britons will try to break a record for the height of a hot air balloon

After more than two years of preparation, the helium pumps started last night to inflate the largest balloon ever built. The ball should help Britons Andy Elson, 48, and Colin Prescott, 53, complete their seven-hour journey to the edge of the atmosphere. The goal: to break the world record for altitude flight in a hot air balloon and reach a height of 132 thousand feet (40,233 meters).

"I am very excited about the mission," said Prescott in interviews with the British media. According to him, in the last 42 years, no attempt has been made to break the record set in 1961 by Vic Perther and Malcolm Ross, two American naval officers, who were launched in a hot air balloon from the Gulf of Mexico and reached a height of 34,747 meters. The fight for the title of "the nation that managed to reach the highest altitude" was part of the competition between the Americans and the Russians in the research that accompanied the space race and whose goal was to understand where the atmosphere ends and outer space begins.

Elson and Prescott have a lot of experience flying balloons. In 1999, the two attempted to circumnavigate the world in a hot air balloon, but failed because the Chinese government refused to allow them to travel in its airspace.

At the height they are trying to reach, impossible conditions prevail: the temperature is minus 73 degrees and the air pressure is 150 times lower than the pressure on the ground. On the other hand, from this height the two will be able to view the landscape that stretches over about a million square kilometers. In order to fulfill the mission, QintetiQ, one of the largest companies in Europe in the field of space exploration, built a 381 meter high balloon.

Because the ball is so high, pilots run the risk of being ripped apart in high winds. For this reason, the launch planned last year was cancelled. This time, according to the forecast, the winds at an altitude above 24,000 meters will be relatively moderate. In addition, when landing in the ocean, the balloon is expected to be completely torn apart. "It's a one-time hot air balloon," said its builders.

Elson and Prescott will be equipped with special pressure suits; They chose not to use a closed and sealed cabin. "An open cell saves weight and allows us to run away from the bullet if we run into a problem," explained Prescott. According to estimates, the balloon's climbing time will be about five hours and the time it will take to return will amount to about two more hours. Despite this, the two were supplied with oxygen for about 11 hours.

The launch is expected today between 10-8 am (Israel time), from a ship anchored in southwest England. All the hotels in the area, it was reported, are already full to capacity.

The knowledge of man and space
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One response

  1. Not terribly, the attempt to break a record in freediving from space with the help of a balloon also failed.
    Although today's skydiving record was achieved with a balloon in 1960 by Joseph Kittinger

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