The team behind an attempt to break the world manned balloon altitude record say their flight will begin from Cornwall on Tuesday. British pilots Andy Elson, from Somerset, and Colin Prescot, from Hampshire, aim to break a 42-year-old record. They hope to ascend 132,000 feet (25 miles) into the stratosphere with the 1,270-ft (387 m) tall QinetiQ 1 balloon. The revolutionary craft is expected to launch between 0600 BST and 0800 BST on Tuesday from QinetiQ's vessel Triton - a prototype trimaran warship - off St Ives. Made from 1.7 metric tons of super thin polyethylene, the balloon will have a volume at 132,000 feet of 44 million cubic feet. The record attempt should be completed within nine hours, although the duo will carry enough oxygen on board the platform for 11 hours. "The Qinetiq 1 balloon and flight platform is being loaded on to the deck of our ship, RV Triton, in readiness for launch," a spokesman for QinetiQ, the UK science and technology research company, said on Sunday. Scientists from the Russian Space agency Zvezda are also en route to mission control in St Ives. They will be on board prior to launch to help the pair dress in the spacesuits which will be vital to their survival.
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I hope nothing goes wrong.