First Spaceman Joe Kittinger Leaves a Great Legacy
Retired US Air Force Colonel Joe Kittinger’s contributions to aerospace and humanity will always remain legendary. The dauntless test pilot, space pioneer, brave balloonist, war veteran, high skydiver, parachutist, and a true American hero passed away on 9th December 2022 after a battle with lung cancer. He was 94. Kittinger was a great believer in […]
The English Channel Flight That Brought Hot-Air Ballooning to the World
This “English Channel Crossing” story features America’s two legendary balloonists, the late Mr. Ed Yost (30 June 1919 – 27 May 2007), who is known as the father of the modern hot-air balloon, and the recently deceased Mr. Don Piccard ( 13 Jan. 1926 – 13 Sep. 2020), another pioneer and a passionate promoter who […]
Dewey Reinhard Reflects on His 1977 Balloon Flight Across the Atlantic Ocean
Dewey Reinhard had never seen a balloon as huge as the one that he was about to fly on October 10, 1977 from Bar Harbor, in the United States. Reinhard and former Army pilot Steve Stephenson were lured by the Atlantic as were others before them, whose quest had produced 15 failures and five deaths. […]
Tracy Barnes: Pioneer of Lighter-than-Air Flight
Admired as a brave pioneer and mechanical genius in lighter-than-air aviation, Tracy Lay Barnes made hot-air ballooning a safer and enjoyable sport. Barnes’ most important contribution to ballooning—the self-sealing parachute valve—advanced safety and control of hot-air balloons, consequently expanding the sport and business of ballooning in the United States and around the world. Tracy Lay […]
The First Aerial Crossing of the English Channel
On 7th January 1785, Jean-Pierre Blanchard and Dr. John Jeffries became the first humans to triumphantly fly across the English Channel in a balloon, from Dover, England to Calais, France. In the history of ballooning, Jean-Pierre-François Blanchard is remembered as much for his courage and skills as a ballooning pioneer, as his abilities to spin colorful […]
The First Human Flight Was by a Balloon, 235 Years Ago
On 5th June 1783, brothers Joseph and Étienne Montgolfier released the first balloon in the air in Annonay, a small town in France. Their craft rose to 6,000 feet and flew for ten minutes. Knowing that their balloon flight was safe, the Montgolfier brothers proceeded to build a giant envelope to fly the first people. […]
Joe Kittinger: First Man to Jump from Space
It was one of the most dangerous aerospace experiments, by the United States Air Force. On 16th August 1960, Captain Joseph Kittinger got ready to rise to an altitude of more than 100,000 feet above the Earth —about three times the flying altitude of commercial planes. Kittinger, a test and fighter pilot, was going to […]
Looking Back: The First Crossing of the Atlantic by Men in a Balloon
On August 11, 1978, three American balloonists Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson, and Larry Newman lifted off in their balloon Double Eagle II from Presque Isle, in Maine, United States, to take on the challenge of crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Abruzzo and Anderson had also attempted the feat in the previous year, but they were caught by storms, […]
How Students Livestreamed the Solar Eclipse from Near Space to NASA’s Website
The United States experienced a total solar eclipse on 21st August 2017 for the first time since 1918, with the path of totality across the entire continental United States. About 20 million people (a conservative estimate) watched from the path, and according to NASA, 40 million people watched the live eclipse broadcast on its website and […]
Gas Ballooning FAQs
What makes gas balloons fly? Gas balloons ascend because the gas inside is less dense and lighter than the air on the outside of the balloon. Heating up regular air makes its molecules expand, becoming lighter than the surrounding atmosphere. That’s what causes hot-air balloons to lift off. Gas balloons used in races such as […]
