Ballong på tur - verdensrekordforsøk

Balloon Pilots in Quest of World Records Take Off from Japan


Two balloonists took flight from Japan on Saturday in a bid to break world records for distance and duration for gas balloon travel, in what they hope will be at least a six-day trans-Pacific flight

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Jan 24 (Reuters) - Two balloonists took flight from Japan on Saturday in a bid to break world records for distance and duration for gas balloon travel, in what they hope will be at least a six-day trans-Pacific flight reaching the U.S. West Coast, officials said.

The distance record of 5,209 miles (8,383 km) for gas balloons was set on the only previous manned trans-Pacific flight, in 1981, while the duration record of more than 137 hours aloft was set in 1978 by a team crossing the Atlantic.