Admired as a brave pioneer and mechanical genius in lighter-than-air aviation, Tracy Lay Barnes made hot-air ballooning a safer and enjoyable sport. Barnes’ most
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The First Aerial Crossing of the English Channel
On 7th January 1785, Jean-Pierre Blanchard and Dr. John Jeffries became the first humans to triumphantly fly across the English Channel in a balloon, from Dover, England to Calais, France.
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The First Human Flight Was by a Balloon, 235 Years Ago
The first flying adventure by a balloon on November 21, 1783 proved that humans could survive at reasonable altitudes away from the surface of the earth. With their balloon flight, Pilatre de Rozier and the Marquis d’Arlandes had achieved a dream of centuries; a dream for which many brave souls had lost their lives. All over the world, balloonists celebrate 21st November as the Montgolfier Day to mark the anniversary of the first flight in honor of Rozier and d’Arlandes, by a hot air balloon invented by the Montgolfier brothers, which, to this day, is called the Montgolfière.
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Joe Kittinger: First Man to Jump from Space
It was one of the most dangerous aerospace experiments, by the United States Air Force. On 16th August 1960, Captain Joseph Kittinger got ready
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Looking Back: The First Crossing of the Atlantic by Men in a Balloon
On August 11, 1978, three American balloonists Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson, and Larry Newman lifted off in their balloon Double Eagle II from Presque
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How Students Livestreamed the Solar Eclipse from Near Space to NASA’s Website
DURING the solar eclipse, how did the LIVE video of the moon’s shadow hurtling across the earth reach NASA’s website?
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Gas Ballooning FAQs
What makes gas balloons fly? Gas balloons ascend because the gas inside is less dense and lighter than the air on the outside of the
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Incredible Journey of a Japanese Balloon Bomb
On February 23, 1945, three preteen boys, Larry Bailey and brothers Ken and Bob Fein, were playing in North Dorr, Michigan, near the Fein’s house. All of a sudden, a mysterious object appeared floating overhead and descend at a 45° angle. The boys knew that it was about to land close by. “We were so excited, we got a family friend Joe Wolf to come with us in his pickup truck, and we tracked it,” said Bailey.
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New World Record: 82 Balloons Take Flight to Cross English Channel
Balloons took to the skies in record numbers on Friday, April 7, as 82 hot air balloons launched from Lydden Hill Race Circuit at
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Balloon Museum Celebrates High-Flying Pioneers
A lot of the science and space research involving balloons also needed daring humans to fly to the edge of space, test instruments, and experience the effects of the dangerous near-space environment on human physiology. Some even lost their lives in their effort to contribute to our knowledge of space travel, astronomy, astrophysics, and human physiology at high altitudes.
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