FORT MORGAN, Colo., March 23 (UPI) -- David Hempleman-Adams may have broken the world altitude record for a wicker-basket balloon when he reached a height of 37,000 feet over Colorado.
"It definitely looks like he has done it, but we won't have official confirmation until tonight," flight director Tim Cole, said in a radio transmission.
"We will be able to download the barograph readings tonight and that will give us the profile of his flight with pressure and height measurements. Officials will use these readings to confirm the record."
The Mears Altitude Challenge balloon, named after the sponsors, is a Roziere-type balloon measuring 140-feet high from basket to the top. It used burners adapted to deal with the sub-zero temperatures of the high altitude, the BBC reported Tuesday.
Cole used an oxygen mask to deal with the thinner air lacking oxygen.
