Page 2 - Cluster Balloon News Today

Then you start assembling the groups of five into larger assemblies of 15 or 20. >> once everything checks out, couch kisses his wife and, with cameras rolling, begins the ascent. >> for the most part, i cant steer myself. thats what i like about this little cluster ballooning thing. you just go where the winds take you. >> the thing you wouldnt realize is how peaceful it is up there. its super quiet. hes traveling at the same speed of the wind. even when he was moving at 50 miles an hour, he co...

>> we spray-painted it so we could see it if it fell in the forest. it was traffic cone paint, so it really stood out. >> although the neon paint will make it easier to spot, they will need something much more dependable if they want to find it. >> an iphone seemed to have the best app to track the balloon. it gives you longitude and latitude but altitude as well. >> if you lost your phone, you would have where to track it. and we could follow it. >> next to the camera was a little hd camera tha...

Balloon, the two kids, max and his best friend miles were just so excited. >> we bought like some lollipops so me and miles were really hyped up. >> the kids give this really great countdown. >> ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, zero, blast off! >> we cut off the balloon. >> it started rocking wildly like crazy. it was 25 feet a second. it was pretty fast. after about two minutes, it disappeared into the clouds. >> they track the crafts coordinates. but thats no guarante...

A lot of things can go wrong. >> until they recover the craft, it will be a mystery as to what the camera captures. fortunately, it lands only 30 miles north of the launch site. and theyre able to retrieve the footage. >> to be totally honest, we got a little sick watching it. because we were eating and watching it at our kitchen table the first time. and we were so focused on the screen and eating at the same time. and its whooshes around. >> but once it reaches the stratosphere, everything lev...

If it falls into water, that would be very bad. a lot of things can go wrong. >> until they recover the craft, it will be a mystery as to what the camera captures. fortunately, it lands only 30 miles north of the launch site. and theyre able to retrieve the footage. >> to be totally honest, we got a little sick watching it. because we were eating it and watching it at our kitchen table the first time. and we were so focused on the screen and eating at the same time. and its whooshes around. >> b...

For them to expand. >> after all the balloons are staged, we put them in clusters of five. then you start assembling the groups of five into larger assemblies of 15 or 20. >> once everything checks out, couch kisses his wife and, with cameras rolling, begins the ascent. >> for the most part, i cant steer myself. thats what i like about this little cluster ballooning thing. you just go where the winds take you. >> the thing you wouldnt realize is how peaceful it is up there. its super quiet. hes ...

Pops a couple balloons to come back down. running out of ballast is the end of the ride in terms of his ability to control his altitude. each time it made things a little better just learning from the previous flight. >> i started using a pilots parachute, which is nice and comfortable. we had more balloons, more ballast, we got more security and safety. better communication between the ground crew. >> july 5, 2008. kent couch attempts to fly from bend, oregon, to boise, idaho, and break his rec...

Launch day finally arrives. >> when we were assembling the balloon, the two kids, max and his best friend miles, were just so excited. >> we had bought like some lollipops so me and miles were really hyped up. >> the kids give this really great countdown. >> ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, zero, blast off! >> we cut off the balloon and it goes up. >> it started rocking wildly like crazy. it was going about 25 feet a second. it was pretty fast. after about two minutes, ...

Hard case and kind of made it this hamburger shape that was very aerodynamic. >> and then we spray-painted it so we could see it if it fell in the forest. it was traffic cone paint, so it really stood out. >> although the neon paint will make it easier to spot, they will need something much more dependable if they want to find it. >> the iphone seemed to have the best app to track the balloon. it gives you longitude and latitude but altitude as well. >> if you lost your phone, you would have lik...

It was about 22 feet in diameter. its enormous. a the little craft below it. >> it got like that big. because the pressure lightens as you get up. there isnt a lot of oxygen. and the air is very thin. >> the pressure of the helium inside the balloon is now much greater than the surrounding air pressure. so it continues to expand until finally the balloon pops and the craft comes plummeting back to earth at more than 100 miles an hour. >> so the parachute deploys maybe 30 seconds after the balloo...