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QinetiQ 1 was a balloon
Balloon (aircraft)

A balloon is a type of aircraft that remains aloft due to its buoyancy. A balloon travels by moving with the wind. It is distinct from an airship, which is a buoyant aircraft that can be propelled through the air in a controlled manner....
 designed to set a new manned balloon world altitude record of around 40 km (25 miles, 132,000 feet). The balloon was named after the main sponsors, QinetiQ
QinetiQ

QinetiQ is an international Defense contractor, formed from the greater part of the former UK government agency Defence Evaluation and Research Agency when it was split up in June 2001 ....
 (formerly part of DERA, the British Defence Evaluation and Research Agency
Defence Evaluation and Research Agency

The Defence Evaluation and Research Agency was a part of the Ministry of Defence until July 2, 2001. At the time it was the United Kingdom's largest science and technology organisation....
).

The immense 381 m high zero-pressure balloon was constructed from 5,000 kg of polyethylene
Polyethylene

Polyethylene or polythene is a thermoplastic commodity heavily used in consumer products . Over 60 million tons of the material are produced worldwide every year....
, using helium
Helium

Helium is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert monatomic chemical element that heads the noble gas group in the periodic table and whose atomic number is 2....
 as the lift gas. At its maximum altitude the balloon's volume was 1.25 million m³ (40 million ft³).






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QinetiQ 1 was a balloon
Balloon (aircraft)

A balloon is a type of aircraft that remains aloft due to its buoyancy. A balloon travels by moving with the wind. It is distinct from an airship, which is a buoyant aircraft that can be propelled through the air in a controlled manner....
 designed to set a new manned balloon world altitude record of around 40 km (25 miles, 132,000 feet). The balloon was named after the main sponsors, QinetiQ
QinetiQ

QinetiQ is an international Defense contractor, formed from the greater part of the former UK government agency Defence Evaluation and Research Agency when it was split up in June 2001 ....
 (formerly part of DERA, the British Defence Evaluation and Research Agency
Defence Evaluation and Research Agency

The Defence Evaluation and Research Agency was a part of the Ministry of Defence until July 2, 2001. At the time it was the United Kingdom's largest science and technology organisation....
).

The immense 381 m high zero-pressure balloon was constructed from 5,000 kg of polyethylene
Polyethylene

Polyethylene or polythene is a thermoplastic commodity heavily used in consumer products . Over 60 million tons of the material are produced worldwide every year....
, using helium
Helium

Helium is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert monatomic chemical element that heads the noble gas group in the periodic table and whose atomic number is 2....
 as the lift gas. At its maximum altitude the balloon's volume was 1.25 million m³ (40 million ft³). The two pilots, Andy Elson and Colin Prescot, would have occupied an open deck, relying on Zvezda
NPP Zvezda

Research & Development Production Enterprise Zvezda, or R&D PE Zvezda is a Russian manufacturer of life-support systems for high-altitude flight and human spaceflight....
-manufactured Sokol space suit
Sokol space suit

The Sokol space suit is a type of Russian space suit, worn by anyone who flies on the Soyuz spacecraft. It was introduced in 1973 and is still used ....
s to keep them alive during the anticipated twelve-hour flight.

The attempt was originally planned for 2002 but adverse high altitude conditions halted attempts in that year. The launch site for the twelve-hour flight was decided to be from off the coast of Cornwall
Cornwall

Cornwall , constitutional Duchy and palatine, is a metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England of England, United Kingdom, located at the tip of the south-western peninsula of Great Britain....
.

In 2003 the launch was initially set to take place on September 2 from the deck of RV Triton
RV Triton

The Research Vessel Triton is a trimaran Ship owned by Gardline Marine Sciences Limited and a former prototype United Kingdom warship demonstrator for the UK's Defence Evaluation and Research Agency....
 off the coast of St Ives
St Ives, Cornwall

St Ives is a seaside resort, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town lies north of Penzance and west of Camborne....
. Early that morning, it was decided to postpone the launch for 24 hours due to cloud at high altitude. The following morning an attempt was made to inflate the balloon. At around 6.55am with the balloon inflated to a height of 15 metres, helium began to escape from the envelope. An irreparable tear was discovered along one of the seams of the balloon and all efforts for a flight in 2003 were abandoned.

The current record is held by Malcolm Ross and Vic Prather of the US Navy, who took Stratolab
Stratolab

Project Strato-Lab was a high-altitude manned balloon program sponsored by the United States Navy during the 1950s and early 1960s. The Strato-Lab program lifted the first Americans into the upper reaches of the stratosphere since World War II....
 to 34,668 m (113,740 ft) on May 4, 1961 above the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico is the ninth largest body of water in the world. Considered a smaller part of the Atlantic Ocean, it is an oceanic basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba....
. Prather was drowned when the balloon ditched in the sea at the end of the flight.

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