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Waiting for a flight of adventure
By CNN's Robyn Curnow
ST. IVES, England (CNN) -- Here on the Cornish coast, the weather seems perfect. The sun is shining and there's hardly a breeze. There are just a few wisps of cloud. But, strangely, for a country which is more used to rainy and grey skies, the weather is just not perfect enough. Somewhere up in the atmosphere there are two levels of cloud cover. Too much cloud, it seems, for a record- breaking balloon adventure into the edges of space. The world's largest helium balloon, Inertia 1, was supposed to have launched from a British navy boat, RV Triton, early Tuesday morning. But the trip was postponed to Wednesday morning because that is when meteorologists predict the weather will be just perfect enough. If all goes according to Plan B, on Wednesday in the skies above Cornwall on the West Coast of England, Andy Elson and Colin Prescot will fly higher than humans have ever flown in a balloon before. (Full story) The pair have been preparing to balloon up to 25 miles (40 kilometers) for three years. What started off as a dream adventure has now become a major engineering and scientific project. The balloon they, and sponsors Qinetiq, have built is massive. When inflated, the helium balloon will be as large as the Empire State Building. It is made of nine acres of polyethylene. A fabric that is as thin as a freezer bag but tough enough to withstand a journey to the stratosphere and back. Because the human body cannot withstand the extremely low temperatures and high altitude, the balloonists will wear specially tailored Russian space suits. If all goes well, Andy and Colin's balloon journey will only take about ten hours. Just a day trip in space for these two British adventurers. A potentially dangerous "day trip" pilot Colin Prescot acknowledges. But he says it is the ultimate profession challenge. Prescot is also excited about experiencing the view from the stratosphere -- a sight few others have had the privilege of seeing.
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