A Concise History Of Balloon Rides
Hot air balloon rides as we know them today can trace their history right back to September 1783
, when French aviation pioneer and scientist Jean-Francois Pilatre de Rozier launched 'Aerostat Reveillon' into the sky with a rooster, a duck and a sheep as passengers. Balloon rides back then were not what they are today, and the contraption crashed back down to Earth 15 minutes later.
Only two months later, the first balloon with a human passenger took off from the heart of Paris. Created by two French brothers, Etienne and Joseph Montgolfier, the balloon flew for 20 minutes.
Progression after this was extremely quick and, after only two years, Jean Pierre Blanchard, a French balloonist, and John Jefferies, his American co pilot, flew across the English Channel in a balloon. The same year, there was a failed attempt to cross the Channel by Pilatre de Rozier, the first balloonist, who was unfortunately killed when his balloon exploded after half an hour because of an experimental design which involved the tying together of a hot air balloon and a hydrogen balloon.
Other benchmarks were set over the years, including the first balloon rides taking place in North America, which happened in 1793.
Then in 1793, Auguste Piccard achieved the first flight in a balloon to the stratosphere. The Swiss scientist reached 52,498 feet, but this record was quickly broken and re-broken many times over the next two years, before a super balloon came along, smashing the record and holding it for the next 20 years.
The balloon was named the Explorer 2 and was a gas helium model that reached 72,395 feet, or 13.7 miles. Out of all balloon rides previously, this one probably was the most important in terms of what scientists learnt from it. It was the first time the fact that humans could survive in pressurised chambers at extreme altitude had been proven, and helped pave the way for travel to space in the future.
The first time that a balloon crossed the Atlantic was in 1978. Three men, Ben Abruzzo, Larry Newman and Maxie Anderson flew in the helium-filled Double Eagle II, and the journey took 137 hours. Three years later, the Double Eagle V crossed the Pacific Ocean carrying four passengers. The journey took 84 hours, beginning in Japan and ending in Mendocino National Forest, California.
In 1987, the first hot air balloon, as opposed to a helium/gas balloon, crossed the Atlantic carrying Richard Branson and Per Lindstrand. The pair also became the first people to cross the Pacific Ocean in a hot air balloon four years later.
Finally, the first round-the-world flight was completed in 1999 when Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones smashed all previous distance records and flew from Switzerland round the world and landed in Africa, taking 19 days and 21 hours.
Finally, in 1999 the first around the world flight was completed by Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones. Leaving from Switzerland and landing in Africa, they smashed all previous distance records, flying for 19 days, 21 hours and 55 minutes.
by: Dominic Donaldson
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