LAREDO, Texas -- British balloonist Per Lindstrand lifted off just before dawn today in his attempt to climb more than 11 miles high and set a world altitude record for hot-air balloons.
Conditions were described as perfect as Lindstrand's 12-story-tall balloon took off at 5:42 a.m. on a mission that had been postponed almost daily for more than a week because of high winds. The trip was expected to take 2 hours from liftoff and the balloon was expected to drift only 15 to 20 miles down range.
Lindstrand, who made a record-breaking flight across the Atlantic with Richard Branson in 1987, hopes to reach 60,000 feet -- more than 11.3 miles -- in breaking the record of 55,134 feet.
Peter Mason, the project coordinator, said breezes were negligible at takeoff. At 6:40 a.m., Mason said Lindstrand and the balloon were at 35,000 feet and climbing at a rate of 636 feet per minute.
Lindstrand had dropped two of his half-dozen empty fuel tanks, allowing them to flutter to the ground under a parachute, as he will do with the rest of the fuel tanks as they are consumed. Due to a small amount of instability at liftoff, Lindstrand allowed two 100-pound sandbags to remain attached to his enclosed gondola, but once aloft he climbed out and slit the bags with a knife, allowing the sand to spill out.
'It is very calm,' Mason said of the conditions. 'It is a perfect day. Perfect.'
The launch site is 27 miles north of Laredo on the flat, wide-open, semi-arid South Texas plains. As it inflated before dawn, the giant silver balloon dominated the countryside and then turned spectacular as the sun rose and sunlight reflected off the metallic-colored balloon.
'It is probably going to be visible all the way up,' Mason said. 'It's a silver dot in the sky. At 35,000 feet we started to see his vapor trail. That's also about when he had to pressurize his cabin.'
Tracking planes were flying along with the balloon while vehicles on the ground moved downwind to be ready to recover the craft and Lindstrand when they return to earth.
Because of its enormous size -- eight times larger than a conventional hot-air balloon -- the balloon is likely to prove extremely difficult to control as it lands. The weather 'window' Lindstrand and his team sought needed to combine relatively low-speed upper level winds so as to minimize both the distance downwind the balloon travels while aloft and the speed at which it touches down.
Lindstrand's project to break the world record altitude for hot-air balloons is called 'Stratoquest.' Virtually each day for the past week, the team has been waiting for the right weather to be able to launch the balloon, but until today have been disappointed.
In the past it has been technically impossible to break through the 60,000-feet barrier because the lack of oxygen hindered the balloon's hot-air burners. Lindstrand believes, however, that it is now technically possible to break through using technology his company developed.
'We know we have the technical skills to do it but when you're attempting to fly higher than a hot-air balloon has ever flown before you're striking out into unknown territory,' he said prior to the flight.
'New materials, improved technology, innovative design and better pilot skills have all combined to make this record not only attainable, but also relatively safe to attempt.'
Lindstrand is riding in a pressurized capsule built to withstand the rigors of a flight at under near-zero-atomosphere conditions, and is equipped with comprehensive instrumentation for monitoring altitude, temperature, fuel, oxygen and life support systems.
