That’s right, in a cluster balloon, ala Pixar’s UP!
Some incredible photos (along with the story) here
According to the live tracker updates, it looks like he crossed the Gulf of St. Lawrence & landed in Newfoundland. Don’t know what happened or why he landed after 12 hrs as I don’t see any news yet.
When I read this story I knew he wasn’t going to last 24 hours. This is incredibly poorly thought out.
The problem with ocean crossings in a balloon, esp. the Atlantic, is maintaining altitude. Too high and oxygen and freezing are a problem. Too low and you drown.
Balloons quickly heat up and chill based on sunlight (so time of day is key). The moisture (in both liquid and frozen form) can quickly condense and evaporate off the balloons. Previous ballooners had to micro manage the amount of gas in the balloon and the ballast. This guy had only the vague notion of letting go balloons and dropping ballast (which the pictures show is very small).
Plus there is a feedback loop. As the balloons rise, they expand, get less dense, rise faster, etc. Reverse process going down. Things get out of control very quickly.
I am shocked that Kittinger had anything to do with it.
At least he came down on land and not in the drink. That little lifeboat wasn’t going to last in the open ocean. How long would it take to release all the balloons and ballast upon impact? Even with quick releases …
I thought his “gondola” was rather pathetic. I would not try an Atlantic crossing in a glorified kiddie pool.
ftg, I disagree. I have been involved with a number of gas balloon flights. They’ve all had two people in an open-topped basket 3’ x 5’ for anywhere up to 2-3 days. Look how long teams 2, 3, & 5 were up in last year’s America’s Challenge
They are required to carry supplemental oxygen with a very expensive regulator that gives only the amount needed based upon altitude. He’s got a ton of ballast, literally (probably more like 1½-2 tons based on the photos) as each sand bag is about 30lbs. What you don’t see is a scoop, he doesn’t need to drop 30lbs at a time, but can scoop sand out of a bag to drop ounce(s) at a time.
It’s a bit nuts, sure, but then so was Abruzzo, Anderson, & Newman’s Double Eagle II flight across the Atlantic & Jones & Piccard’s Breitling Orbiter 3 flight around the world, & Edmund Hillary’s little vertical trek to the top of the world & so many other ‘firsts’. However, I don’t think it’s the automatic death sentence you’re making it seem like.
Spiderman, notice I started off talking about ocean crossings. This is very different from land crossings. The cold, moisture producing Atlantic below and the warm drying Sun above makes it an entirely different thing. If you were familiar with the Double Eagle II flight, you’d know a lot more about the issues involved. Note that they had black on the underside and silver on the top side of their balloon in order to better maintain thermal stability. For this guy, it’s party balloon colors! Sheesh. And he’s using multiple simple balloons. The America’s Challenge people use single, complex design, balloons. Completely incomparable. And what is a suitable gondola for landing on land is also completely different for a suitable gondola for a possible landing in the North Atlantic.
There’s daring people and then there’s nut jobs.