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Thanks to Hans Akerstedt, Vice President of the FAI Ballooning Commission for compiling the following information for a request by National Geographic magazine:

CLASS A : FREE BALLOONS
Free balloons are subdivided in four sub-classes depending on lifting gas and other differences. A fifth sub-class is "any other type" but so far we have no such thing. All existing balloons are classified as one of the four below. The sub-classes are the following :

Sub-class AA : Free balloons, not equipped with an airborne heater, which obtain their buoyancy from a lighter-than-air gas, without pressurization of the envelope.
Note: This is commonly called "Gas Balloon" or in USA "Helium Balloon". In USA the most commonly used lifting gas is Helium, but in Europe and the rest of the world Hydrogen is most often used. It has better lift, is cheaper but is highly flammable. Helium is an inert gas.

Sub-class AX: Free balloons which obtain their buoyancy solely as a result of heating air. The envelope may contain no gases other than air and the normal products of combustion.
Note: This is normally called a Hot Air Balloon and is the most common type of balloon.

Sub-class AM: Free balloons which use both a lighter-than-air gas and an airborne heater, without pressurization of any envelope.
Note: AM balloons are also called "Rozière Balloons" after its first constructor, Pilatre de Rozier. The first human to ascend in a balloon 1783. Died in an accident with a Rozière balloon 1785. At that time they used hydrogen in combination with an open flame. Bad habit. Nowadays we use helium instead. This type is mainly used for very long distance flights long ocean crossings and Round-the-World flights.

Sub-class AS: Free balloons which use a lighter-than-air gas and are designed to allow sufficient pressurization of the envelope to affect performance substantially.
Note: This type of balloon is mainly used for research like pollution control and when precise altitude control is needed. This type can maintain a constant altitude for a long time.

Size categories
Each subclass is then divided in 15 size categories. The smallest is size is less than 250 cubic meters ( less than 8828 cubic feet). The largest size category is balloons larger than 22 000 cubic meters (776 923 cubic feet). A standard hot air balloon for pleasure flying or competition is AX-6 or AX-7. Most Round-the-World teams use AM-15.

Now we have 4 main sub-classes, each with 15 sizes, total 60.

There are two categories of records in each size category:

GENERAL CATEGORY: The best performance achieved. Conduct for Balloon Releases
The Guidelines and Code of Conduct is designed for anyone who is planning a Balloon Release. We believe this should be strictly adhered to in the interest of safeguarding the environment.

Our environment & latex balloons

Code of Conduct

Guide to Balloon Releases

This information and the Guidelines and Code of Conduct are provided for people and organisations planning their own balloon release for fund raising or any other purpose. We strongly recommend that only a small balloon release should be attempted without professional assistance. Small being defined as anything up to 1000 balloons. This guidance is designed to minimize the risk of any potential danger to animals, sea creatures and the general environment.

What happens when a Balloon is released?

A scientific survey carried out in 1989 revealed that on release a balloon will float up to a height of approximately 5 miles and then it becomes brittle and shatters into miniscule pieces falling back to earth at a rate of circa one piece every 5 square miles. Problems can arise when a balloon is not inflated properly or fully or is carrying too much weight and therefore does not reach the height at which shattering occurs. This situation causes a potential danger to wildlife and the environment.

What can I do to reduce this risk?

The Balloon Industry has produced a Code of Conduct, with input from leading environmental organisations; you should follow this advice to the letter.

Conclusion

Balloon releases are fun, spectacular and fulfil a variety of promotional and fundraising objectives. However if best practice is not followed major problems can occur.

If you require any further clarification or need advice please contact NABAS, The Balloon Industry’s only independent association on 01989 762 204 .

Applying for permission from the civil aviation authority

It is a requirement that if you are releasing more than 5,000 balloons you must apply in writing for permission to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) at least 28 days in advance of the release because balloons can interfere with air traffic.
The CAA also like to be informed of balloon releases up to 5,000.

A form can be obtained by calling either the NABAS office on 01989 762 204 or the Airspace Utilisation Section of the CAA on 020 7453 6599

Our Environment and Latex Balloons
What are balloons made of?

There are basically two types of balloons, foil balloons and latex balloons. The foil balloons (often referred to as mylar), are a bladder made of nylon that is covered with a layer of aluminium that is 0.0015 of an inch thick. Latex balloons are made from the sap of rubber trees - a completely natural substance.

Are latex balloons biodegradeable?

Yes. Latex is the product of rubber tree sap, it breaks down when exposed to the elements of nature.

How long does it take for a ballon to biodegrade?

Oxidation is the first step in the breakdown of a latex balloon and it begins within approximately one hour of inflation. Oxidation is visible in some types of balloons as a cloudy appearance. This is most evident when the balloon is exposed to direct sunlight, heat or normal outdoor conditions.

Research was carried out in July 1989 with a variety of balloons under various conditions to accurately gauge the time needed for the latex to degrade. Results from this study indicate that the decomposition time for balloons is about the same rate as an oak leaf (6 months).

Is it true that balloons have been found ingested by sea animals?

Some cases have been reported, but balloon fragments are unlikely to cause harm if accidentally ingested. This is because latex and the dyes used in latex colouring are non-toxic. However problems may occur if a partially inflated balloon is ingested, causing possible blockage of the alimentary tract.

Code of Conduct
Download pdf version

NABAS is very aware of its responsibilities to the environment. This Code of Conduct was produced to formalise the principles for balloon releases, which have long been the standard for the Industry. It is extremely important that everyone adheres to this code in the interest of safeguarding the environment.

1. Only natural latex rubber balloons will be used for Releases

Latex, being an organic product degrades naturally in the environment. Balloons made of any material other than latex and in particular foil balloons should not be used for Releases.

2. All components used in balloon releases must be biodegradable

Balloons must be hand tied, plastic valves should not be used. Any attached labels must be of paper, preferably recycled.

3. Only helium gas should be used to inflate the balloons

Helium is an inert lighter-than-air gas. As the balloon rises, the gas expands until eventually the balloon bursts producing small fragments, which aid decomposition.

4. No ribbons or strings must be attached to the balloons

Ribbons and strings represent a potential problem and must never be used in balloon releases. Labels should be attached via the hand tied balloon knot.

5. Balloons must always be launched singly

Single balloons disperse easily and quickly. They must never be tied together in bunches for balloon releases.

6. Full approval must be obtained from the relevant authorities

Releases exceeding 5000 balloons should not take place unless they have been cleared in advance with all relevant air traffic and local authorities. The Authorities must be notified in writing at least 28 days prior to the release.

7. Maximum balloon size

Balloons larger than 12“ can not be released. It is forbidden to use balloons containing any metallic pigment.

8. All balloons sold near balloon releases must be weighted

Any balloons sold in the vicinity of a balloon release must be sold with a weight attached to ensure they cannot escape. Foil Balloons must never be released. Latex balloons with a plastic valve and ribbon must also be weighted.

FEMININE CATEGORY: The best performance achieved by a woman. In this category the entire crew must be female.

Now we have 120 different categories of possible records. However some female records are also records in the general category. In the "Lighter-than-air" world it is an advantage to be light.

Types of records
Each of the size categories in the sub-classes shall be subject of the following records: - Altitude, - Distance, - Duration, - Shortest time around the World

So theoretically we could have 480 record types. In addition we have Absolute Records. These are the best records for any balloon regardless of size Naturally we have only three of these.

As you may understand we would double the number of possible records if we would make a difference between Solo flights and multi-pilot flights.

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Atlantic crossings, Around the World flights and other spectacular performances.
Many believe that when the first flight over the Atlantic took place (1978) it therefore became a record. That is wrong. Being the first is not a record as such. A record is something that can be broken by a better performance. Who can possibly make it better than being first?

The first successful Atlantic crossing was made August 11-17, 1978 by Maxie Anderson, Ben Abruzzo and Larry Newman, all USA. They flew from Presque Isle in USA to Miserey, France. They established new world records for Distance and Duration in class AA-8 with 5001 km (3106.3 miles) and 137.05 hours. Both were also Absolute Records at that time. (See National Geographic, December 1978.

The fact that it was the first successful crossing by balloon of the North Atlantic is for record purposes just a curiosity and belongs in the Guinness Book of Records. (In this case I thing Records mean just "for the record" or record in the meaning "a list of notable achievements".) A true record is something that has been controlled in accordance with set rules and that can be broken by a subsequent performance with the same rules and circumstances.

When the FAI ballooning commission (The CIA) was faced with the possibility of someone flying a balloon around the World we got a number of problems.
What constitutes a true "Around-the-World flight?
How do we measure the distance flown?
What will the record be, time, distance or speed?

Obviously a short flight around the North Pole could not count. Likewise we could not demand that the flight path should follow the equator. We needed a definition that would exclude trivial records but at the same time would allow any flight that in the eyes of the man-on-the-street would qualify. Otherwise we would look rather stupid.

The distance calculation was also a problem. Up till then (1980) the distance flown in a record was the straight line (Great Circle) between start and landing. When you have flown halfway around the world this distance starts to decrease and if you land exactly where you took off the distance is actually zero. Not good. We could not change the rules too much as the best existing record for distance was over 8000km.

We finally decided to separate distance flights from Around-the-World flights. For distance records over long distances we now allow the track to be split up in several legs ant the total distance will be the sum of the legs. In order to avoid problems with old records we ruled that each leg must be at least one half Earth radius (3185.5km / 1979.378miles) and the average of the legs used must be one Earth radius (6371km / 3958.756miles).

We then tried to define what an Around-the-World flight would be. In short the flight has to cross all meridians and has to be of a length that as a minimum is equal to half the equator length. This is just a theoretical minimum but we needed to allow deviations from the equator and we needed to allow flights on only one hemisphere as this is most likely to happen due to meteorological laws. We also needed to allow the track to be "tilted" in relation to the equator.

If you care to study further, here are the full rules about Around-the-World record.

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4.8.3. AROUND-THE-WORLD RECORDS
4.8.3.1 The record shall be the shortest time around the World in a single flight.

4.8.3.2 After the flight the pilot must choose:

i) a selection of position check points which need not be the same as those which are selected to claim a distance record under 4.8.2 and need not conform to its distance limits.
ii) Two circular caps on the surface of the earth. The radius of each cap must be 3335.85 km (30 degrees of great circle arc), and each cap must enclose one of the poles, not necessarily at its center.
iii) A meridian which shall be the Start and Finish Line

4.8.3.3 The position check points and the great circle arcs joining successive check points must lie outside both circular caps, although parts of the flight may pass inside. The track must cross all meridians after crossing the Start line and before crossing the Finish line.

4.8.3.4 The start time is the time of the last check point at or before crossing the start line, and the finish time is the time of the first check point at or after crossing the finish line.

4.8.3.5 The around-the-world record is established when the balloon crosses the finish line.

4.8.4 DEFINITIONS AND EXPLANATIONS
4.8.4.1 The radius of the earth is defined by the Sporting Code (GS 7.3.1.1) as 6371.0 km for the purpose of converting angles to distances.

4.8.4.2 The Great Circle Distance between two points is the shortest arc of the great circle passing through the two points.

4.8.4.3 A typical arrangement of requirements of 4.8.3 is shown in the diagram. The cap must enclose the pole and the great circle arcs joining the check points pass outside it. The actual track of the aerostat must cut all meridians, but may pass inside the cap.

_________CAP (solid dark line)
. . . . . . . . ACTUAL TRACK (dotted or thin line)

4.8.4.4 A check point is an identifiable point where it can be proved the balloon passed over or through. If many check points are available those used for calculation may be selected according to rules 4.8.2 and 4.8.3 to the applicants best advantage.

Airships follow the same general principles but there are only 10 size categories. As a compensation they have a fifth type of record - speed.

CLASS B : AIRSHIPS
Class B airships shall be divided into four sub-classes each containing ten categories according to size. The sub-classes are the following:

Sub-class BA: Airships which obtain at least 80% of their static lift from a lighter-than-air gas, and which are not included in sub-class BR.
Note: Also called "Blimp"

Sub-class BX: Airships which obtain their static buoyancy solely as a result of heating air. The envelope may contain no gases other than air and the normal products of combustion.
Note: This is a "Hot Air Blimp".

Sub-class BR: Airships which obtain at least 80% of their static lift from a lighter-than-air gas, and in which the complete outer envelope is formed by a rigid framework.
Note: This is the "Zeppelin Type", but there has been many more manufacturers than Zeppelin.

As with balloons there is a fourth class, "Any other".
CHAPTER 3 BALLOON QUALIFICATIONS

3.1 DEFINITION OF A BALLOON (GS 2.2.1, 2.2.1.1, S1 2.1.1.2)
3.1.1 AEROSTAT - AN AIRCRAFT LIGHTER-THAN-AIR.
FREE BALLOON - AN AEROSTAT SUPPORTED STATICALLY IN THE AIR, WITH NO MEANS OF PROPULSION BY ANY POWER SOURCE.
3.1.2 SUB-CLASS AX - FREE BALLOONS WHICH OBTAIN THEIR BUOYANCY SOLELY AS A RESULT OF HEATING AIR. THE ENVELOPE MAY CONTAIN NO GASES OTHER THAN AIR AND THE NORMAL PRODUCTS OF COMBUSTION.
3.1.3 Vents which are designed to rotate or propel a balloon may only be operated in flight after all tasks are completed. Penalty 250 to 500 task points.

3.2 FUEL
Each balloon shall carry sufficient fuel to complete the flight with an adequate reserve. Lack of fuel to complete a flight shall not be grounds for protest.

3.3 NOMINATION OF BALLOON
Each competitor shall nominate the balloon he is to fly during the Event. No change of balloon may be made after the start of the first task briefing, except as provided in these rules. The maximum size category is AX8 (3000cbm/105000cft). For specific events e.g. alpine balloon events, other categories may be specified in Section II.

3.4 AIRWORTHINESS (S1 5.5.3)
AEROSTATS FLOWN IN THE EVENT MUST HAVE CURRENT CERTIFICATES OF REGISTRATION AND AIRWORTHINESS, OR IN PLACE OF THE LATTER, AN EQUIVALENT DOCUMENT FROM THE RECOGNIZED AUTHORITY OF THE NATION CONCERNED. THE ORGANIZERS ARE EMPOWERED TO REJECT ANY AEROSTAT WHICH IN THEIR OPINION IS NOT OF A REASONABLE STANDARD OF AIRWORTHINESS.

3.5 DAMAGE
3.5.1 If a balloon is damaged during the Event, it may be repaired. Damaged components may be replaced or repaired, except that a complete envelope may be replaced only at the discretion of the Director.
3.5.2 Any damage to a balloon affecting its airworthiness must be reported to the Director before it is entered for a further task, and the balloon may only be flown after his approval of any repairs. Penalty: up to 1000 competition points.

3.6 AUTOMATIC FLIGHT CONTROLS (S1 5.9.2)
ANY DEVICE DESIGNED TO ACT AS AN AUTOMATIC FLIGHT CONTROL IS PROHIBITED, REGARDLESS OF THE SPECIFIC NATURE OF THE DEVICE.

3.7 ALTIMETER
Each balloon shall carry a serviceable altimeter. MEDIA RELEASE: MARCH, 2000
(For immediate release)

FAI BALLOONING COMMISSION ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Delegates from twenty-nine countries met in Thessaloniki, Greece from March 1-4 to work on an agenda covering many aspects of international ballooning. The conference recognized ballooning achievements, approved rule changes, reviewed the work of technical subcommittees, sanctioned events and made progress in promoting ballooning in several area.

ACHIEVEMENTS
The non-stop around-the-world balloon flight by Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones was acknowledged by awarding the prestigious Montgolfier Diploma for the best achievement in the category of Rozier Balloon to these pilots. Their flight in Brietling Orbiter 3 from Switzerland on March 1st to land in Egypt March 21 completed the first ever round the world balloon flight and has been recognized by the aviation world as a truly remarkable achievement.

German pilot, Uwe Schneider, was awarded the Montgolfier Diploma for the best sporting performance in the previous year. As winner of both the Austrian and German Nationals, international events in Luxembourg and Japan and runner up in the World Championships and Brazilian Nationals, Uwe Schneider is a worthy and popular recipient.

Richard Abruzzo and Dr. Carol Rymer Davis from the United States, were acknowledged for their impressive flight in a gas balloon from Denver Colorado to East Wales, Maine and received the Montgolfier Diploma for Best Performance Gas Balloon. Their flight took place during the RE/MAX Cup National Gas Balloon Race which they won with a distance of 1783.1 statute miles (2870.6km) and a duration of 64 hours 28 minutes.

Masashi Kakuda from Japan, an event organiser, official and active member of the CIA Subcommittees also received a Montgolfier Diploma, for his major contribution to the sport of ballooning,

The introduction of a new FAI Award for "Technical Advances in Aviation" was announced during the meeting and all countries are encouraged to nominate and to check with their local delegate for further details.

RULES
Regularly competition rules are reviewed by the CIA Subcommittees based on experience during the previous years, suggestions from officials and competitors. The most significant changes this year involved aspects of the AX (Hot Air Balloon) Model Event Rules and changes to the Sporting Code – Section One, Chapter 5 which will penalize "no show" entrants to sanctioned events. This recognizes the difficulties caused by people who register but do not show up and will affect not only the individual competitor but the NAC of the individual who is responsible for their entrants.

EVENTS
Progress reports were given on two major events for the near future. Plans for the World Air Games (WAG) in Seville, Spain in July of 2001 are well on track with a test event scheduled for this year in the same location. The invitation process was discussed extensively and a formula developed that would invite the best competitive pilots from around the world based on ranking at the previous WAG, World, continental and national championships. With the main event only a year away the officiating team is being selected for Hot Air, Hot Air Airships and Gas competitions.

With the first successful around the world flight completed just a year ago there is interest in having an around the world race. The plans for this Great Balloon Race continue to develop within the Commission working groups but no date has yet been set since a considerable amount of sponsor and geo-political work remains.

The FAI Ballooning Commission members approved and finalized sanctions for the following events:

World Championships

12th European Hot Air Balloon Championship in Luxembourg, 3 – 13 August, 2000
7th Hot Air Airship World Championship in Austria, 1 – 10, September, 2000
15th World Hot Air Balloon Championship in France, 24 August – 1st September, 2002
Category One Events

44th Coupe Aeronautique Gordon Bennett in Belgium, 9 – 16 September, 2000
Mobilux Trophy 2000 and Honda Grand Prix in Luxembourg, 28 July – 1 August, 2000
2000 Motegi Hot Air Balloon International Championship in Japan, 21 – 27 November, 2000
World Air Games Cup (test event) in Spain, 4 – 9 July, 2000
Premier Sporting

9th Akwawit Cup and 11th Ladies Cup in Poland, 13 – 17 September, 2000
Tisza Cup in Hungary, 10 – 17 June, 2000
Sanction for the 1st South American Championships in Brazil (July 15 – 22, 2001) was approved in principal and along with several other application will be reviewed by the Commission Bureau and approval granted provided they satisfy all the sanctioning criteria.

YOUTH INITIATIVES
Presentations were make on projects to encourage youth to become involved in ballooning. Markus Haggeney talked about the 7 internal and 1 international camps hosted annually by the German Balloon Federation while Mark Sullivan presented the Junior Balloonist program sponsored by the Balloon Federation of America. The FAI Ballooning Commission supports these initiatives to encourage growth in the sport.

COMMISSION ORGANIZATION
The Commission organization continues to change to meet the needs of balloonists. This year a new Competitors Committee was added to provide an opportunity for top competitive pilots to offer advise on a wide range of topics directly to the Commission. For the first year this group is chaired by Uwe Schneider of Germany.

The Public Relations and Development Subcommittee has a new chairperson in Pat Brake from the United States and is focusing this year on a number of media and public relations efforts including finding interested and skilled individuals to help in the world wide promotion of the sport of ballooning.

The incumbent Executive were re-elected with Jean-Claude Weber retaining his position as President, Neil Robertson Secretary and Vice Presidents Markus Haggeney, Hans Akerstedt, Jakob Burkard to serve for another year.

The final minutes of the meeting and further details on these announcements will be published on the Commission’s web site within the next few weeks.

The next FAI Ballooning Commission meeting is scheduled for February 28 to March 3, 2001 in Bern, Switzerland.

A balloon release occurs when a number of hydrogen or helium-filled balloons are allowed to float into the sky together, or in rapid succession. This may be done for fun, to create a photo opportunity to raise awareness of a cause or campaign, or as a competitive race.

[edit] Balloon races
A balloon race or balloon flight contest is a competition wherein the competitors attempt to send balloons as far as possible. Postcards are attached to the balloons which are then released. The flight of the balloons cannot be influenced by the competitors. Instead, success in the contest is dependent on the wind conditions and on the location in which the balloon lands. The contest depends on the goodwill of passers-by to find the balloons and return the postcards. A prize may be awarded to the person whose balloon travels the furthest.A balloon release occurs when a number of hydrogen or helium-filled balloons are allowed to float into the sky together, or in rapid succession. This may be done for fun, to create a photo opportunity to raise awareness of a cause or campaign, or as a competitive race.

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Moored balloons can carry instruments and sensors for long durations that are impractical for other aircraft.
The DHL Balloon is the world's largest tethered helium balloon with 30 passengers on board. Look up aerostat in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
A moored balloon is an inflated fabric structure, often shaped like an airship and usually filled with helium that is restrained by a cable attached to the ground or a vehicle. Moored balloons differ from airships and free balloons in that airships and free balloons are both free flying.

Moored balloons are sometimes called aerostats. However the term aerostat can also be used to refer to all lighter than air aircraft. In this broader sense, moored balloons are a type of aerostat.

Moored balloons come in three forms:

1) Traditional sausage shaped (i.e. blimp shaped) with fins to stabilise them, but relying upon helium alone for lift:
2) Simple round balloons relying on helium alone, but without stabilisation, which sometimes are used to make passengers fly, or support advertisement, like the aerophile balloons;
3) Helikites, that utilise both helium and wind, if it is available.
A Helikite has a kite attached directly to its oblate-spheroid balloon to stabilise it and to create a single aerodynamic structure for wind lift. Helikites can fly in higher winds than other types of aerostat and to greater altitude.

[edit] Applications
Designed by Albert CAQUOT, french engineer, in 1914, the barrage balloons of World War I and World War II were examples of moored balloons. Today, moored balloons are used for lifting: cameras; radio antennas; electro-optical sensors; radio-relay equipment and advertising banners - often for long durations. Moored balloons are also used for position marking and bird control work.

During the 1990 Invasion of Kuwait, the first indication of the Iraqi ground advance was from a radar-equipped moored balloon that detected Iraqi armor and air assets moving south.[1] Surveillance moored balloons have been used in the 2004 American occupation of Iraq. Utilizing a high-tech optics system to detect and observe enemies from miles away and have been used accompanying foot patrols in Baghdad.

The USGS uses moored balloons to carry equipment to places where conventional aircraft cannot go, such as above an erupting volcano. Moored balloons are ideal as they can easily remain more or less in one place; are less likely to be damaged by volcanic ash and are less expensive to operate than a helicopter.

The Drug Enforcement Administration has contracted with Lockheed Martin to operate a series of radar-equipped moored balloons to detect low-flying aircraft attempting to enter the United States. A total of twelve moored balloons are positioned approximately 350 miles apart, from California to Florida to Puerto Rico, providing unbroken radar coverage along the entire southern border of the US.[2]

Worldwide Aeros Corp manufactures a family of moored balloon systems for a variety of uses. Aerophile SA.is the world leader of big tethered gas balloons with passengers. They have made more than 1 280 000 passengers flown since 1993 with this concept.

Moored balloons can be used as temporary transmitters, instead of a radio mast: either by using the mooring rope, which holds the balloon, as the antenna; or by carrying antennas on the balloon, fed by a radio frequency cable contained inside the mooring rope. The advantage of moored balloons is that large antenna heights are easily realizable. A use of an antenna carried by a captured balloon took place for GQV-transmitter in 2003.

Moored balloons are sometimes used for advertisement, either by lifting up advertisement signs, or by using a balloon with advertisements on it. Often both methods are combined. It is not uncommon to use specially designed balloons. By suspending a light source within the envelope, the balloon can be made to glow at night, drawing attention to its message. Big tethered gas balloons can also lift up 30 passengers at 1,000 feet [3].
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An aerobot is an aerial robot, usually used in the context of an unmanned space probe or unmanned aerial vehicle.

While work has been done since the 1960s on robot "rovers" to explore the Moon and other worlds in the Solar system, such machines have limitations. They tend to be expensive and have limited range, and due to the communications time lags over interplanetary distances, they have to be smart enough to navigate without disabling themselves.

For planets with atmospheres of any substance, however, there is an alternative: an autonomous flying robot, or "aerobot" [1][2] Most aerobot concepts are based on aerostats, primarily balloons, but occasionally airships. Flying above obstructions in the winds, a balloon could explore large regions of a planet in great detail for relatively low cost. Airplanes for planetary exploration have also been proposed.

Contents [hide]
1 Basics of balloons
1.1 The Venus Vega balloons
1.2 The Mars aerobot effort
2 JPL aerobot experiments
3 JPL aerobot mission concepts
4 Planetary Aircraft
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Basics of balloons
While the notion of sending a balloon to another planet sounds strange at first, balloons have a number of advantages for planetary exploration. They can be made light in weight and are potentially relatively inexpensive. They can cover a great deal of ground, and their view from a height gives them the ability to examine wide swathes of terrain with far more detail than would be available from an orbiting satellite. For exploratory missions, their relative lack of directional control is not a major obstacle as there is generally no need to direct them to a specific location.

Balloon designs for possible planetary missions have involved a few unusual concepts. One is the solar, or infrared (IR) Montgolfiere. This is a hot-air balloon where the envelope is made from a material that traps heat from sunlight, or from heat radiated from a planetary surface. Black is the best color for absorbing heat, but other factors are involved and the material may not necessarily be black.

Solar Montgolfieres have several advantages for planetary exploration, as they can be easier to deploy than a light gas balloon, do not necessarily require a tank of light gas for inflation, and are relatively forgiving of small leaks. They do have the disadvantage that they are only aloft during daylight hours.

The other is a "reversible fluid" balloon. This type of balloon consists of an envelope connected to a reservoir, with the reservoir containing a fluid that is easily vaporized. The balloon can be made to rise by vaporizing the fluid into gas, and can be made to sink by condensing the gas back into fluid. There are a number of different ways of implementing this scheme, but the physical principle is the same in all cases.

A balloon designed for planetary exploration will carry a small gondola containing an instrument payload. The gondola will also carry power, control, and communications subsystems. Due to weight and power supply constraints, the communications subsystem will generally be small and low power, and interplanetary communications will be performed through an orbiting planetary probe acting as a relay.

A solar Montgolfiere will sink at night, and will have a guide rope attached to the bottom of the gondola that will curl up on the ground and anchor the balloon during the darkness hours. The guide rope will be made of low friction materials to keep it from catching or tangling on ground features.

Alternatively, a balloon may carry a thicker instrumented "snake" in place of the gondola and guiderope, combining the functions of the two. This is a convenient scheme for making direct surface measurements.

A balloon could also be anchored to stay in one place to make atmospheric observations. Such a static balloon is known as an "aerostat".

One of the trickier aspects of planetary balloon operations is inserting them into operation. Typically, the balloon enters the planetary atmosphere in an "aeroshell", a heat shield in the shape of a flattened cone. After atmospheric entry, a parachute will extract the balloon assembly from the aeroshell, which falls away. The balloon assembly then deploys and inflates.

Once operational, the aerobot will be largely on its own and will have to conduct its mission autonomously, accepting only general commands over its long link to Earth. The aerobot will have to navigate in three dimensions, acquire and store science data, perform flight control by varying its altitude, and possibly make landings at specific sites to provide close-up investigation.

[edit] The Venus Vega balloons
The first, and so far only, planetary balloon mission was performed by the Space Research Institute of Soviet Academy of Sciences in cooperation with the French space agency CNES in 1985. A small balloon, similar in appearance to Earthly weather balloons, was carried on each of the two Soviet Vega Venus probes, launched in 1984. See that article for more details on their design.

The first balloon was inserted into the atmosphere of Venus on 11 June 1985, followed by the second balloon on 15 June 1985. The first balloon failed after only 56 minutes, but the second operated for a little under two Earth days until its batteries ran down.

The Venus Vega balloons were the idea of Jacques Blamont, chief scientist for CNES and the father of planetary balloon exploration. He energetically promoted the concept and enlisted international support for the small project.

The scientific results of the Venus VEGA probes were modest. More importantly, the clever and simple experiment demonstrated the validity of using balloons for planetary exploration.

[edit] The Mars aerobot effort
After the success of the Venus VEGA balloons, Blamont focused on a more ambitious balloon mission to Mars, to be carried on a Soviet space probe.

The atmospheric pressure on Mars is about 150 times less than that of Earth. In such a thin atmosphere, a balloon with a volume of 5,000 to 10,000 cubic meters (178,500 to 357,000 cubic feet) could carry a payload of 20 kilograms (44 pounds), while a balloon with a volume of 100,000 cubic meters (3,600,000 cubic feet) could carry 200 kilograms (440 pounds).

The French had already conducted extensive experiments with solar Montgolfieres, performing over 30 flights from the late 1970s into the early 1990s. The Montgolfieres flew at an altitude of 35 kilometers, where the atmosphere was as thin and cold as it would be on Mars, and one spent 69 days aloft, circling the Earth twice.

Early concepts for the Mars balloon featured a "dual balloon" system, with a sealed hydrogen or helium-filled balloon tethered to a solar Montgolfiere. The light-gas balloon was designed to keep the Montgolfiere off the ground at night. During the day, the Sun would heat up the Montgolfiere, causing the balloon assembly to rise.

Eventually, the group decided on a cylindrical sealed helium balloon made of aluminized PET film, and with a volume of 5,500 cubic meters (196,000 cubic feet). The balloon would rise when heated during the day and sink as it cooled at night.

Total mass of the balloon assembly was 65 kilograms (143 pounds), with a 15 kilogram (33 pound) gondola and a 13.5 kilogram (30 pound) instrumented guiderope. The balloon was expected to operate for ten days. Unfortunately, although considerable development work was performed on the balloon and its subsystems, Russian financial difficulties pushed the Mars probe out from 1992, then to 1994, and then to 1996. The Mars balloon was dropped from the project due to cost, and the probe was lost on launch in 1996 anyway.

[edit] JPL aerobot experiments
By this time, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) had become interested in the idea of planetary aerobots, and in fact a team under Jim Cutts of JPL had been working on concepts for planetary aerobots for several years, as well as performing experiments to validate aerobot technology.

The first such experiments focused on a series of reversible-fluid balloons, under the project name ALICE, for "Altitude Control Experiment". The first such balloon, ALICE 1, flew in 1993, with other flights through ALICE 8 in 1997.

Related work included the characterization of materials for a Venus balloon envelope, and two balloon flights in 1996 to test instrument payloads under the name BARBE, for "Balloon Assisted Radiation Budget Equipment".

By 1996, JPL was working on a full-fledged aerobot experiment named PAT, for "Planetary Aerobot Testbed", which was intended to demonstrate a complete planetary aerobot through flights into Earth's atmosphere. PAT concepts envisioned a reversible-fluid balloon with a 10-kilogram payload that would include navigation and camera systems, and eventually would operate under autonomous control. The project turned out to be too ambitious, and was cancelled in 1997.

JPL continued to work on a more focused, low-cost experiments to lead to a Mars aerobot, under the name MABVAP, for "Mars Aerobot Validation Program". MABVAP experiments included drops of balloon systems from hot-air balloons and helicopters to validate the tricky deployment phase of a planetary aerobot mission, and development of envelopes for superpressure balloons with materials and structures suited to a long-duration Mars mission.

JPL also provided a set of atmospheric and navigation sensors for the Solo Spirit round-the-world manned balloon flights, both to support the balloon missions and to validate technologies for planetary aerobots.

[edit] JPL aerobot mission concepts
While these tests and experiments were going on, JPL performed a number of speculative studies for planetary aerobot missions to Mars, Venus, Saturn's moon Titan, and the Outer Planets.

JPL's MABVAP technology experiments are intended to lead to an actual Mars aerobot mission, named MABTEX, for "Mars Aerobot Technology Experiment". As its name implies, MABTEX is primarily intended to be an operational technology experiment as a precursor to a more ambitious efforts.

MABTEX is currently envisioned as a small superpressure balloon, carried to Mars on a "microprobe" weighing no more than 40 kilograms (88 pounds). Once inserted, the operational balloon would have a total mass of no more than 10 kilograms (22 pounds) and would remain operational for a week. The little balloon gondola would have navigation and control electronics, along with a stereo imaging system, as well as a spectrometer and magnetometer.

Current plans envision a follow-on to MABTEX as a much more sophisticated aerobot named MGA, for "Mars Geoscience Aerobot". Current design concepts for MGA envision a superpressure balloon system very much like that of MABTEX, but much bigger. MGA would carry a payload ten times larger than that of MABTEX, and would remain aloft for up to three months, circling Mars more than 25 times and covering over 500,000 kilometers (300,000 miles) of ground.

The payload would include sophisticated equipment, such as an ultrahigh resolution stereo imager, along with oblique imaging capabilities; a radar sounder to search for subsurface water; an infrared spectroscopy system to search for important minerals; a magnetometer; and weather and atmospheric instruments.

MABTEX might be followed in turn by a small solar-powered blimp named MASEPA, for "Mars Solar Electric Propelled Aerobot".

JPL has also pursued similar studies on Venus aerobots. A Venus Aerobot Technology Experiment (VEBTEX) has been considered as a technology validation experiment, but the focus appears to have been more on full operational missions.

One mission concept, the Venus Aerobot Multisonde (VAMS), envisions an aerobot operating at altitudes above 50 kilometers (31 miles) that would drop surface probes, or "sondes", onto specific surface targets. The balloon would then relay information from the sondes directly to Earth, and would also collect planetary magnetic field data and other information. VAMS would require no fundamentally new technology, and may be appropriate for a NASA low-cost Discovery planetary science mission.

Significant work has been performed on a more ambitious concept, the Venus Geoscience Aerobot (VGA). Designs for the VGA envision a relatively large reversible-fluid balloon, filled with helium and water, that could descend to the surface of Venus to sample surface sites, and then rise again to high altitudes and cool off.

Developing an aerobot that can withstand the high pressures and temperatures (up to 480 degrees Celsius, or almost 900 degrees Fahrenheit) on the surface of Venus, as well as passage through sulfuric acid clouds, will require new technologies. VGA is not expected to be ready until late in the next decade.

Prototype balloon envelopes have been fabricated from polybenzoxazole (PBO), a polymer that exhibits high strength, resistance to heat, and low leakage for light gases. A gold coating is applied to allow the polymer film to resist corrosion from acid clouds.

Work has also been done on a VGA gondola weighing about 30 kilograms (66 pounds). In this design, most instruments are contained in a spherical pressure vessel with an outer shell of titanium and an inner shell of stainless steel. The vessel contains a solid-state camera and other instruments, as well as communications and flight control systems. The vessel is designed to tolerate pressures of up to a hundred atmospheres and maintain internal temperatures below 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) even on the surface of Venus.

The vessel is set at the bottom of a hexagonal "basket" of solar panels that in turn provide tether connections to the balloon system above, and is surrounded by a ring of pipes acting as a heat exchanger. An S-band communications antenna is mounted on the rim of the basket, and a radar antenna for surface studies extends out of the vessel on a mast.

Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, is an attractive target for aerobot exploration, as it has a nitrogen atmosphere twice as dense as that of Earth's that contains a smog of organic photochemicals, hiding the moon's surface from view by visual sensors.

An aerobot would be able to penetrate this haze to study the moon's mysterious surface and search for complex organic molecules. NASA has outlined a number of different aerobot mission concepts for Titan, under the general name of Titan Biologic Explorer.

One concept, known as the Titan Aerobot Multisite (TAM) mission, involves a reversible-fluid balloon filled with argon that could descend from high altitude to the surface of the moon, perform measurements, and then rise again to high altitude to perform measurements and move to a different site.

Another concept, the Titan Aerobot Singlesite (TAS) mission, would use a superpressure balloon that would select a single site, vent much of its gas, and then survey that site in detail.

An ingenious variation on this scheme, the Titan Aerover, combines aerobot and rover. This vehicle features a triangular frame that connects three balloons, each about two meters (6.6 ft) in diameter. After entry into Titan's atmosphere, the aerover would float until it found an interesting site, then vent helium to descend to the surface. The three balloons would then serve as floats or wheels as necessary. JPL has built a simple prototype that looks three beachballs on a tubular frame.

No matter what form the Titan Biologic Explorer mission takes, the system would likely require an atomic-powered radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) module for power. Solar power would not be possible at Saturn's distance and under Titan's smog, and batteries would not give adequate mission endurance. The aerobot would also carry a miniaturized chemical lab to search for complicated organic chemicals.

Finally, aerobots might be used to explore the atmosphere of Jupiter and possibly the other gaseous Outer Planets. As the atmospheres of these planets are largely composed of hydrogen, and since there is no lighter gas than hydrogen, such an aerobot would have to be a Montgolfiere. As sunlight is weak at such distances, the aerobot would obtain most of its heating from infrared energy radiated by the planet below.

A Jupiter aerobot might operate at altitudes where the air pressure ranges from one to ten atmospheres, occasionally dropping lower for detailed studies. It would make atmospheric measurements and return imagery and remote sensing of weather phenomena, such as Jupiter's Great Red Spot. A Jupiter aerobot might also drop sondes deep into the atmosphere and relay their data back to an orbiter until the sondes are destroyed by temperature and pressure.

[edit] Planetary Aircraft

Artist's conception for a Venus airplaneWinged airplane concepts have been proposed for robotic exploration in the atmosphere of Mars,[2][3][4] Venus,[5] and even Jupiter.[6]

The main technical challenges of flying on Mars include[4] 1) understanding and modeling the low Reynolds number, high subsonic Mach Number aerodynamics, 2) building appropriate, often unconventional airframe designs and aerostructures, 3) mastering the dynamics of deployment from a descending entry vehicle aeroshell, and 4) integrating a non-air breathing propulsion subsystem into the system. An aircraft concept, ARES[7] was selected for a detailed design study as one of the four finalists for the 2007 Mars Scout Program opportunity, but was eventually not selected in favor of the Phoenix mission. In the design study, both half-scale and full-scale aircraft were tested under Mars-atmospheric conditions.[7]

[edit] References
^ Barnes D.P., Summers, P., Shaw, A., "An investigation into aerobot technologies for planetary exploration," in Proc. 6th ESA Workshop on Advanced Space Technologies for Robotics and Automation, ASTRA 2000. ESTEC Noordwijk, NL, pp. 3.6-5, December 2000. PDF version.
^ a b Anthony Colozza, Geoffrey Landis, and Valerie Lyons, Overview of Innovative Aircraft Power and Propulsion Systems and Their Applications for Planetary Exploration, NASA TM-2003-212459 (July 2003) link to NASA TM
^ See overview of 1978 Altair VI Mars airplane by David Portree
^ a b NASA AME Mars Airplane concept, 1996
^ Geoffrey A. Landis, Anthony Colozza, and Christopher M. LaMarre, Atmospheric Flight on Venus, AIAA 40th Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Reno, Nevada, January 14-17, 2002. ink to NASA TM
^ George Maise, "Exploration of Jovian Atmosphere Using Nuclear Ramjet Flyer," presented at NIAC 4th. Annual Meeting NIAC report
^ a b Ares Mars Airplane website

[edit] External links
Modern Ballooning: Planetary Aerobots
Overview of Innovative Aircraft Power and Propulsion Systems and Their Applications for Planetary Exploration
Ares Mars Airplane
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerobot"

[edit] See also
Balloons, like greeting cards or flowers, are given for special occasions.A balloon is an inflatable membrane. The low density and relatively low cost of balloons have led to a wide range of applications. Balloons are now widely used over the world for greetings or celebration.

Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Applications
2.1 Decoration or entertainment
2.1.1 Balloon modeling and balloons in art
2.1.2 Balloon drops
2.1.3 Balloon Publicity
2.1.4 Water balloons
2.1.5 Balloon rockets
2.2 Flying machines
2.3 Medicine
3 Safety and environmental concerns
4 See also
5 Notes
6 External links

[edit] History
In 1643 Evangelista Toricelli, an Italian physicist, showed air was something more than nothing. The Chinese, Japanese and Native American cultures led to beginning of the balloon.

The first balloon was (called the balloon of pie) invented by Brazilian-born Portuguese priest, Bartolomeu de Gusmão, and the first public exhibition was to the Portuguese Court on August 8, 1709, in the hall of the Casa da India in Lisbon. The rubber balloon was invented by Michael Faraday in 1824; it was inflated with hydrogen and used in his experiments with that element.[1] Rubber balloons were soon after sold for a penny a piece in parks and circuses in America. The more familiar latex balloons of today were first manufactured in London, 1847, by J.G. Ingram,[2] but mass production did not occur until the 1930s.[citation needed]According to the Reader's Digest, children and adults send up a billion balloons each year in celebration.

[edit] Applications

[edit] Decoration or entertainment
Main article: Toy balloon

Party balloons.
Decorative arches made of party balloons.Party balloons are mostly made of natural latex tapped from rubber trees, and can be filled with air, helium, water, or any other suitable liquid or gas. The rubber's elasticity makes the volume adjustable.

Filling the balloon with air can be done with the mouth, a manual or electric inflater (such as a hand pump), or with a source of compressed gas.

When rubber balloons are filled with helium so that they float, they typically retain their buoyancy for only a day or so. The enclosed helium atoms escape through small pores in the latex which are larger than the helium atoms. Balloons filled with air usually hold their size and shape much longer.

Even a perfect rubber balloon eventually loses gas to the outside. The process by which a substance or solute migrates from a region of high concentration, through a barrier or membrane, to a region of lower concentration is called diffusion. The inside of balloons can be treated with a special gel (for instance, the polymer solution sold under the "Hi Float" brand) which coats the inside of the balloon to reduce the helium leakage, thus increasing float time to a week or longer.

Animal-shaped balloonsBeginning in the late 1970s, some more expensive (and longer-lasting) foil balloons have been made of thin, unstretchable, less permeable metalized plastic films. These balloons have attractive shiny reflective surfaces and are often printed with color pictures and patterns for gifts and parties. The most important attribute of metalized nylon for balloons is its light weight, increasing buoyancy and its ability to keep the helium gas from escaping for several weeks.

Professional balloon party decorators use electronic equipment to enable the exact amount of helium to fill the balloon. For non-floating balloons air inflators are used. Professional quality balloons are used, which differ from most retail packet balloons by being larger in size and made from 100% biodegradable latex.

[edit] Balloon modeling and balloons in art
Balloon artists are entertainers who twist and tie inflated tubular balloons into sculptures (see balloon animal). The balloons used for balloon sculpture are made of extra-stretchy rubber so that they can be twisted and tied without bursting. Since the pressure required to inflate a balloon is inversely proportional to the diameter of the balloon, these tiny tubular balloons are extremely hard to inflate initially. A pump is usually used to inflate these balloons.

Decorators may use hundreds of helium balloons to create balloon sculptures. Usually the round shape of the balloon restricts these to simple arches or walls, but on occasion more ambitious "sculptures" have been attempted. It is also common to use balloons as tables decorations for celebratory events. Table decorations normally appear with 3 or 5 balloons on each bouquet. Ribbon is curled and added with a weight to keep the balloons from floating away.

[edit] Balloon drops
A common decorative use for balloons is in balloon drops. In a balloon drop, a plastic bag or net filled with air-inflated balloons is suspended from a fixed height. Once released, the balloons fall onto their target area below. Balloon drops are commonly performed at New Year's Eve celebrations and at political rallies and conventions, but may also be performed at other celebrations, including graduations and weddings.

[edit] Balloon Publicity
Balloons are often used for publicity at major events. Screen printing processes can be used to print designs and company logos onto the balloons.

[edit] Water balloons
Water balloons are thin, small rubber balloons intended to be easily broken. They are usually used by children, who throw them at each other, trying to get each other wet, as a game or practical joke. They can be used in competitions or games. They are often smaller than regular balloons.

[edit] Balloon rockets
Main article: Balloon rocket
Balloons are often deliberately released, creating so called balloon rocket or rocket balloon. Rocket balloons work because the elastic balloons contract on the air within them, and so when the mouth of the balloon is left open, the gas within the balloon shoots out, and, due to Newton's third law of motion, the balloon is propelled forward. This is fundamentally the same way that a rocket works.[3]

[edit] Flying machines

Hot air balloons, San Diego, California
Flying above the Ancient City during the Ferrara Balloons Festival, ItalyMain article: Balloon (aircraft)
Large balloons filled with hot air or buoyant gas (often hydrogen or helium) have been used as flying machines since the 18th century. The earliest flights were made with hot air balloons using air heated with a flame, or hydrogen; later, helium was used. Unlike airships, balloons’ travel is directed exclusively by wind.

[edit] Medicine
Angioplasty is a surgical procedure in which very small balloons are inserted into blocked or partially blocked blood vessels near the heart. Once in place, the balloon is inflated to clear or compress arterial plaque, and to stretch the walls of the vessel, thus preventing myocardial infarction. A small stent can be inserted at the angioplasty site to keep the vessel open after the balloon's removal.[4]

Balloon catheters are catheters that have balloons at their tip to keep them from slipping out. For example, the balloon of a Foley catheter is inflated when the catheter is inserted into the urinary bladder and secures its position.[5]

[edit] Safety and environmental concerns
Further information: Marine debris
There has been some environmental concern over metalized nylon ballons, as they don't biodegrade or shred as rubber balloons do, and a helium balloon released into the atmosphere can travel a long way before finally bursting or deflating. Release of these types of balloons into the atmosphere is considered harmful to the environment. This type of balloon can also conduct electricity on its surface and released foil balloons can become entangled in power lines and cause power outages.[citation needed]

Released balloons can land almost anywhere, including on nature preserves or other areas where they pose a serious hazard to animals through ingestion or entanglement. Latex balloons are especially dangerous to marine life because latex retains its elasticity for 12 months or more when exposed to sea water rather than air.[6] Because of the harm to wildlife and the effect of litter on the environment, some jurisdictions even legislate to control mass balloon releases. Legislation proposed in Maryland, USA was named after Inky, a pygmy sperm whale who needed 6 operations after swallowing debris, the largest piece of which was a mylar balloon.[7][8]

[edit] See also
Aerobot
Atlas (rocket)
Balloon-carried light effect
Balloon mail
Balloon modelling
Balloon release
Captive balloon
Cluster ballooning
Foam balloon
Gas balloon
Hopper balloon
Inflatable
List of balloon uses
Radiosonde
Rockoon
Speech balloon

[edit] Notes
^ Robertson, Patrick. The Book of Firsts, Bramhall House, NY, 1978.
^ "Balloon History" (HTML). BalloonsIT. http://www.balloonsit.com/be/informacija.asp?id_meta_type=6&id_informacija=47. Retrieved on 2007-04-29.
^ Zimmerman Jones, Andrew. "Scientific Explanation: Why the Rocket Balloon Works" (HTML). How to Create a Rocket Balloon. About:Physics. http://physics.about.com/od/classroomphysics/ss/balloonrocket_5.htm. Retrieved on 2007-04-29.
^ Berger, Alan (2006-05-30). "Angioplasty" (HTML). Medical Encyclopedia. MedlinePlus. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002953.htm. Retrieved on 2007-04-28.
^ Bellis, Mary. "History of the Catheter - Balloon Catheter - Thomas Fogarty" (HTML). About: Inventors. About. http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blcatheter.htm. Retrieved on 2007-04-28.
^ Andrady, A.L. (2006-08-06). "Plastics and Their Impacts in the Marine Environment". Proceedings of the International Marine Debris Conference on Derelict Fishing Gear and the Ocean Environment, Hawaii: Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary. Retrieved on 2006-12-02.
^ "MARP Sponsors Inky Legislation". Aquarium in Baltimore. http://www.aqua.org/oceanhealth_inkylegislation.html. Retrieved on 2006-12-01.
^ "Legislation regulating the release of balloons". Clean Virginia Waterways. http://www.longwood.edu/cleanva/balloonlaws.htm. Retrieved on 2006-12-01.
"Reader's Digest: Stories Behind Everyday Things"New York:Reader's Digest,1980.

[edit] External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Balloons
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
1911 Britannica entryStratospheric balloons, history and present Historical recopilation project on the use of stratospheric balloons in the scientific research, the military field and the aerospace activity
National trade association for the UK balloon industry
National trade association for the Australasian balloon industry
Royal Engineers Museum Royal Engineers and Aeronautics
Royal Engineers Museum Early British Military Ballooning (1863)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balloon"
Categories: Parties | Balloons
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This page was last modified on 23 March 2009, at 17:05. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.)
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) tax-deductible nonprofit charity.Conduct for Balloon Releases
The Guidelines and Code of Conduct is designed for anyone who is planning a Balloon Release. We believe this should be strictly adhered to in the interest of safeguarding the environment.