January 18, 1996. Copyright, 1996, Graphic News. All rights reserved

FASTER THAN JULES VERNE EVER DARED TO DREAM
By Nicholas Booth

LONDON, January 18, Graphic News- Later today, the indefatigable Richard Branson and two co-pilots will arrive in Marrakesh to prepare for their attempt this weekend to soar into the history books as the first humans to circumnavigate the globe by balloon. The Virgin Global Challenger should take just eighteen days to complete the task, propelled by the most ferocious jet streams which girdle the globe at very high altitude.

Conditions for launch, though, have to be perfect. There has to be no wind at ground level but the Ômax jet streamÕ has to be in the right position for the balloon to reach it quickly. According to the Virgin team, Marrakesh offers ideal launch conditions. Nestling the stratosphere at 30,000 feet, the balloon will sample the ozone layer to search out evidence for manmade pollution. At that altitude, the helium and hot-air filled balloon will have expanded to a height slightly taller than Nelson's column.

Branson is not alone in his attempt at this latest world record. Last week, Chicago securities trader Steve Fossett crash-landed in a Canadian snowstorm after two days aloft and Dutch adventurer, Henk Brinck, is preparing to fly from Nijmegen when conditions are right. In interviews, Brinck and his co-pilot, Willem Hageman, relish the challenge with Branson in their Unicef Flyer. Flying slightly higher, and therefore faster, Branson, Per Lindstrand and Rory McCarthy believe they will win the race even if Brinck launches before the weekend. 

Both Branson and Brinck's balloons have their crews cocooned in pressurised, heated capsules. As to conditions at the end, Per Lindstrand has said that he would not like to be the first person to open the hatch. The journey of the Virgin balloon, however, will be made slightly more bearable by the addition of dozens of miniature bottles of vodka manufactured by Branson's company as a night cap for the crew.

Sources: Virgin Atlantic, UK News, The Guardian