Page 18 - Cluster Balloon News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Little better just learning from the previous flight. >> i started using a pilot's 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 record of 193 miles traveled in a cluster balloon. >> on launch day, we had to be up at 3:30 in the morning. >> it's usually about 50 to 70 volunteers that make this thing work. we'd normally have four or six helium stations. each station has four people on it with ...

>> the pressure of the helium inside the balloon is much greater than the surrounding air pressure, so it continues to 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 balloon bursts. it doesn't do anything until it gets the heavier air. >> at one point, it rocked head over heels. even though it didn't have head or heels. it was pretty amazing because there's a lot of reasons it wouldn't work. >> i've shot a lot of things. that by far takes the...

Miles north of the launch site. they are able to retrieve the footage. >> to be totally honest, we got a little sick watching it. we were eating and watching it at our kitchen table the first time. we were so focused on the screen and eating at the same time. >> but once it reaches the stratosphere, everything levels out. >> we were shooting from about 80,000 feet. twice as high as a plane. three times as high as a plane. >> the craft peaks at 100,000 feet or nearly 19 miles above the earth on its 95-minute voyage. >> at the very end, the balloon is stretched to its absolute maximum capacity. ...

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, blast-off! >> we cut off the balloon. >> it started rocking wildly like crazy. it was pretty fast. after about two minutes, it disappeared into the clouds. >> they tracked the craft's coordinates. but that's no guarantee they will be able to retrieve it. >> the batteriit could just not signal and it will never find it. if it falls into anything that would block the transmission, it falls into very dense trees too deep deeply, it could lose reception....

Couch kisses his wife and with cameras rolling, begins the assent. >> for the most part i can't steer myself. that's what i like about this little cluster ballooning thing. you just go where the winds take you. >> the thing you wouldn't realize is how peaceful it's up there. it's super quiet. he's traveling at the same speed of the wind. even when he was moving at 50 miles an hour, he could set a napkin on his knee, and it wouldn't go anywhere. >> it's like you're floating on a cloud. you start living a moment of what you have dreamed of as a child. >> nearly nine hours later, couch crosses th...