>> august 11th, 2010, newburgh, new york. after eight months of prep work, launch day finally arrives. >> when we were assembling the 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 craft's coordinates. but that's no guarantee they'll be able to retrieve it.