Balloonists Attempt World Altitude Record

ACey writes "BBC News is reporting on the latest attempt to break the balloon altitude world record. Qinetiq 1 is scheduled to launch tomorrow, 2nd September 2003, from the coast of Cornwall, UK, and aims to reach 132,000 feet or 25 miles in a flight that could last 12 hours. The balloon is so big (1,250 feet tall) that it should be visible from most of the UK, Ireland and Western France as it climbs. Good luck to them!"

Comments

Naturally..

[grub]

The first transmission from the balloon will be "Can you hear me now? ... Good!"

xprize?

[mikeee]

Hm. If they could launch it again in a suitable time window, would this be eligable for the X-Prize?

Re:xprize?

[mitomac]

No, the xprize requirement is 65 miles -- another 40 miles more than the stated goal.

Re:One question comes to my mind:

[Gr33nNight]

Because he can. Are you new here?

Erm "Balloon"

[CaffeineAddict2001]

I knew if I wanted to conceal the departure of our ancient alien visitors I too would construct a 1,200 foot balloon and tell people it was trying to break an altitude record.

This just prooves our alien overlords point - we deserve to get our brains eaten.

You'll shoot your eye out kid!

[niko9]

Hate to break it youy bud, but I got my Daisy Brand Red-Ryder BB rifle, and your'e not going anywhere!

Sorry to burst your bubble. ;)

SI Units

[GoneGaryT]

...40,000 metres (40 kilometres) up in a balloon 381 metres tall...

Masochists, I tells ya.

[JCCyC]

See here.

Selected quote:
"The two men will not eat during their mission, and they are hoping they will not have to go to the toilet either. A special fibre-free diet will begin three days before the trip in the hope that waste will be kept to a minimum."

All I can say is -- Holy crap!

are they going to jump too?

[cdn-programmer]

The manhigh project in the late 50's early 60's included a parachute jump from about 100,000 feet. This was about the height that the Challenger exploded and the jump shows that the crew of the Chalenger could have survived had the technology developed in the manhigh project been avilable to them.

The guy who jumped reached a speed of over 700 miles per hour for part of the fall.

Re:are they going to jump too?

[benj_e]

um, I think you mean Columbia, and they weren't going 12,000 MPH in the manhigh program were they?

Re:are they going to jump too?

[Fred Ferrigno]

At higher altitudes, the air is thinner, drag resistance is less, so terminal velocity is much higher.

In 1960, Colonel Joe Kittinger jumped from 102,800 feet, reputedly reaching speeds of 714mph.

Re:are they going to jump too?

[cybermage]

um, I think you mean Columbia,

Actually, I think he means Challenger. When the Challenger exploded during launch, it is believed that the cockpit portion of the shuttle remained intact until impacting the ocean. Had the crew had the ability to jump from altitude, who knows...

Think of the wardriving opportunities

[G4from128k]

With a good high-gain antenna, they should be able to access wireless LANs for quite a distance. Were I in the vicinty, I would be honored to have them posting their progress through my network.

History&Freefall

[the_pooh_experience]

Acording to NOVA, the standing record is 113,739.9 ft (~ 35 km) was set in 1961. Back then however these people were pretty hardcore, as it was too technical to pilot the balloons back down, they would jump (with a parachute).

My grandfather and his brother were some of the balooning pioneers in the US, and I actually had the oppertunity (when I was much younger) to acompany my grandfater taken up in a balloon by Joe Kittinger (first altitude record of ~100,000 ft and the longest freefall to date-where he actually broke the sound-barrier unaided by propultion other than gravity). We didn't go to 100 kft but even back then (I think I may have been about 7) it was quite an experience.

Re:Another metric hack

[bentini]

Maybe you mean light-microseconds?

Re:Balloons?! Still?! Again?! etc.

[rokzy]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/sci_nat/03/b allooning/html/glider.stm

"The technology behind Zephyr could be used as a communications platform for mobile phones in remote areas, or disaster zones, or even by the military for surveillance."

happy...?

Blood boiling? Such melodrama!

[titzandkunt]

"Should the suits fail at 35,000 feet (10,668 metres) Andy and Colin would lose consciousness. At 80,000 feet (24,384 metres) the pilots would die within a matter of seconds, as the low pressure would make their blood boil almost immediately."

All this gory talk makes good copy, but it ain't necessarily so: You would lose fluids as vapour from your airways, but this would be gradual. Images of blood boiling in your tortured veins is simply alarmist. Your blood pressure is high enough, and your veinous system is elastic and resilient enough to prevent bulk boiling occurring. More details are here , and essentially all over the web. The seminal publication is "Bioastronautics Data Book, Second edition, NASA SP-3006", which I can't find online, unfortunately. Them Rocket Scientists sure know lotsa stuff!

T&K.

Re:One question comes to my mind:

[ray-auch]

Launch date got put back 24hrs after the (BBC) article was posted - check the main bbc news site for a brief article on the delay.

As well as the balloon record they are flying some remote controlled (from the gondola) drone which I expect is going to be a record height too.

So we have very high altitude unmanned drone being tested - now that sounds like the military's cup of tea...