For Immediate Release
Contact: Kim Vesely: media@twoeaglesballoonteam.com
Two Eagles Transpacific Balloon Crossing Go for Launch
Albuquerque, NM: The team is ready, weather conditions look great, and Two Eagles pilots Leonid
Tiukhtyaev and Troy Bradley are preparing for an early Friday morning launch (Thursday afternoon
Mountain Standard Time (MST) in the US, or Thursday evening GMT (Z)) in their international quest to
complete a transpacific crossing in a helium balloon. The team began moving equipment to the launch
site in Saga, Japan on Wednesday afternoon local (approximately 12 AM MST or 0700Z).
The Two Eagles launch and Mission Control teams received a “standby” message at about the 48-hour
mark before the anticipated launch. This is the signal for the team in Japan to begin staging equipment
at the launch site and the flight support team in the US to convene in Albuquerque to begin operations
at the Mission Control Center at the Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum.
After further analysis of weather and launch conditions, the team received a “go” notice later
Wednesday evening (MST). This moved the process into the next phase, preparations to inflate the
giant 350,000 cu. ft. (9,911 cu meter) balloon with helium. The team will also load the 287 40-pound
sandbags that will provide ballast (expendable weight for maneuvering), and all the equipment and
provisions the pilots will need for up to 10 days in flight.
If weather conditions remain favorable, including very light winds at the launch site coupled with faster
winds at altitude to facilitate a successful transit of the Pacific, the team will begin to fill the balloon,
with the goal of launching in the early morning hours (3 AM-6 AM) Friday local time in Saga (Thursday
approximately 11 AM – 2 PM MST or 1800-2100Z). The first part of the balloon’s track will take it over
land, which will give Bradley and Tiukhtyaev time to check out their equipment and make sure the
balloon is performing as expected before venturing out over water. Early forecasts are that the balloon
will pass north of the Hawaiian Islands approximately three days into the flight, with landfall in North
America in about five days.
The goal of the flight is to set a new distance record for straight gas balloons (balloons solely using a
lighter-than-air gas like helium for lift). The current record of 8,382.54 km / 5,208 mi was set by the
Double Eagle V Albuquerque-based team of Ben Abruzzo, Larry Newman, Ron Clark, and Rocky Aoki in
1981 during the only previous manned gas balloon transpacific crossing. The team would also like to
best another hallowed world record: the gas balloon duration record set in 1978 by Abruzzo, Newman,
and Maxie Anderson aboard Double Eagle II. They stayed aloft 137 hours, 5 minutes and 50 seconds
during their history-making flight, the first successful transatlantic crossing by balloon.
The Mission Control Center in Albuquerque will begin operations on Thursday morning, as support for
the flight passes from the launch team in Saga to the hands of the specialists who will provide weather,
navigational, and other support from Mission Control. The Two Eagles website,
www.twoeaglesballoonteam.com, will include live tracking of the balloon’s position and regular updates
from Mission Control, as well as lots of information on the balloon, the team members, and the flight.
The team will also be providing information, photos, and much more through their Facebook, Twitter,
Pintrest, YouTube, Instagram, Tumblr, Flickr, and Google social media pages.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TwoEaglesBalloonTeam
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TwoEaglesTeam
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRhkAHxTzC377lBSX3lFPwg
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/twoeaglesteam
Instagram: http://instagram.com/twoeaglesballoonteam
Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/twoeaglesballoonteam
Tumblr: http://twoeaglesballoonteam.tumblr.com
Google: https://plus.google.com/117257208839520786955
Hashtags:
#TwoEagles
#WorldRecordAttempt
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