Breitling Orbiter
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Bretling Orbiter was the name of three different Rozière Balloons made by Cameron Balloons to circumnavigate the globe. The first two balloons never made it, while the third made a succesful attempt in 1999.
On March 21, 1999, Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones guided Breitling Orbiter 3, the first balloon to fly around the world non-stop, to a safe landing on a desolate stretch of desert in Western Egypt. It was a happy ending to a story that had begun in June 1980, when English pilot and balloon builder Don Cameron announced that a group of adventurers planned to circumnavigate the globe in a balloon.
That original project did not result in a launch, but it did establish the goal. Over the next two decades, 18 teams announced their intention to accept the challenge. Seven of those teams launched a total of sixteen balloons in unsuccessful attempts to fly around the world. In the fall of 1997, the Anheuser-Busch company offered a trophy and a one million dollar prize (one half of which was to be donated to charity) to the first balloonists to achieve what was widely recognized as "the last great aviation challenge of the century." While none of the teams had achieved that elusive goal by the end of 1998, they had captured the public imagination with a series of record-breaking long distances flights and hair's breadth escapes from danger.
Milestone:
- First Nonstop Flight Around The World by Balloon
Date of Milestone:
- March 21, 1999
Vehicle:
- Breitling Orbiter 3 Gondola
Manufacturer:
- Cameron Balloons, Bristol, England, 1998
Artifact Location:
- Smithsonian Institution, National Air and Space Museum, Milestones of Flight Gallery
Gondola:
- Length: 5.4 m (17 ft 10 in)
- Height: 3.1 m (10 ft 3 in)
- Weight, empty: 2,000 kg (4,400 lb)
- Fuel: Propane
- Manufacturer: Cameron Balloons, Bristol, England, 1998
