Aeronautic history was made this week when the first open-basket hydrogen gas balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean landed in Luxembourg early Sunday morning. The Atlantic Explorer lifted off from Presque Isle, Maine, and touched down in Europe ahead of schedule, making the trip in two days at speeds up to 90 mph and reaching altitudes of more than 20,000 feet. Piloting the balloon were Bert Padelt, an American balloon manufacturer based in Pennsylvania; Peter Cuneo, four-time winner of the America’s Challenge Gas Balloon Race who lives in Albuquerque; and Alicia Hempleman-Adams, a record-holding British adventurer and pilot who is now the first woman to have crossed the Atlantic in a gas balloon. The Anderson Abruzzo International Balloon Museum Foundation recognized their historic feat with this Facebook post: “Congratulations on this historic achievement, and thank you for inspiring the global ballooning community.”
Aeronautic history was made this week when the first open-basket hydrogen gas balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean landed in Luxembourg early Sunday morning.
The Atlantic Explorer lifted off from Presque Isle, Maine, and touched down in Europe ahead of schedule, making the trip in two days at speeds up to 90 mph and reaching altitudes of more than 20,000 feet.
Piloting the balloon were Bert Padelt, an American balloon manufacturer based in Pennsylvania; Peter Cuneo, four-time winner of the America’s Challenge Gas Balloon Race who lives in Albuquerque; and Alicia Hempleman-Adams, a record-holding British adventurer and pilot who is now the first woman to have crossed the Atlantic in a gas balloon.
The Anderson Abruzzo International Balloon Museum Foundation recognized their historic feat with this Facebook post:
“Congratulations on this historic achievement, and thank you for inspiring the global ballooning community.”