
A Russian balloonist broke the record for traveling around-the-world in the fastest time in a hot air balloon.
If his record is confirmed by the World Air Sports Federation, it is two days quicker than the record by the late American Steve Fossett in 2002.
"He's safe, he's sound, he's happy. It's just amazing,'' support crew member John Wallington said from the landing site.
He landed at 6:30 p.m. Saturday and was greeted by family members.
A video posted on his instagram page shows his balloon flying over Australia as part of the 20,500-mile journey.
The first men to achieve the trip were Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones in 1999
in 19 days.
Konyukhov traveled across the Pacific Ocean and the Southern Ocean aboard the 184-foot helium-filled balloon. He flew over New Zealand, South America, the Cape of Good Hope,the borders of Antarctica and safely returned to Australia.
0 comments:
Post a Comment