Page 21 - Cluster Balloon News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

>> although the neon paint will make it easier to spot, they will need something much more dependable if they want to find it. >> i found the best app to track the balloon. it gives you longitude and latitude and altitude as well. >> if you lost your phone, you would have where to track it. >> there's the camera. >> next to it was a little camera used for sky diving stunts and motorsports. the whole craft with the camera and tracking system is within a 4-pound limit for faa regulations. >> august 11, 2010. newburg, new york. after eight months of prep work, launch day finally arrives. >> when ...

So me and miles were hyped up. >> the kids had a great countdown. >> three, two, one. blastoff. >> 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 batteries in the phone could freeze. it could just not give out signal and never find it. if it falls into anything that would block the transmission, it falls too deeply, it could lose reception. if it falls into water, it would be bad. a lot of things...

>> we spray painted it so we could see it if it fell in the forest. 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. >> i found the best app to track the balloon. it gives you longitude and latitude and altitude as well. >> if you lost your phone, you would have where to track it. >> there's the camera. >> next to it was a little camera used for sky diving stunts and motorsports. the whole craft with the camera and tracking system is within a 4-pound limit for faa regulations. >> august 11, 2010....

Couch kisses his wife and with cameras rolling, begins the assent. >> 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. 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. >> you start living a moment of what you have dreamed as a child. >> nearly nine hours later, couch crosses the state line into idaho. but he's not going to make it to boise. the winds ha...

Little better. just learning from the previous flight. >> i started using a pilot's parachute, which is nice and comfortable. 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 had four people on it. >> it takes a minute or two to blow up ...