CRAFT AND STRUCTURE
Floating to Space: Adventures
in High-Altitude Ballooning
by Jane Ackroyd
Blue Skies Magazine, January 2014
Copyright © by William H. Sadlier, Inc. Permission to duplicate classroom quantities granted to users of Common Core Progress.
(Genre: Magazine Article)
1
When most people imagine hot-air
balloons, they picture colorful bubbles
floating in the air above peaceful landscapes.
Balloons carry charming wicker baskets full
of tourists and picnic supplies. But one type
of ballooning has left this placid stereotype
behind and become something of an extreme
sport. High-altitude ballooning is the next
frontier in adventure and exploration.
2
This cutting-edge ballooning wouldn’t
surprise the first balloonists. The inventors
of the lighter-than-air balloon were not
interested in sightseeing. In the 1780s, two
separate groups of French scientists built and
flew balloons. One group filled their balloon
with gas, the other with hot air. These were
the very first human flights, taking place
more than a century before the invention
of the airplane. Early balloonists set human
altitude and speed records. In the nineteenth
century, balloons and their maneuverable
cousins—airships and dirigibles—were
cutting-edge travel. In the twentieth
century, smaller and more agile airplanes
and helicopters overtook inflatable ships
for transportation and military purposes.
Ballooning seemed doomed to recreational
use. But there was one dimension in which
balloons still outmatched other aircraft:
the heights they can reach.
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3
Gas weather balloons, usually filled with
hydrogen or helium, routinely fly above
60,000 feet. More advanced balloons easily
crack 100,000 feet. They sail well into the
part of the atmosphere astronomers consider
“near space.” The pressure at this altitude is so
low that a weather balloon measuring about
8 feet wide at sea level will expand to over
35 feet wide at maximum height! Though
weather balloons reach astonishing heights,
they are cheap and common. They lift
weather instruments into the sky every day
from hundreds of locations around the world.
You can even buy and launch your own!
4
These weather balloons have no pilots, of
course. They are designed to burst and drop
their payloads by parachute to the earth
below. But human beings have also hitched
a ride on high-altitude balloons to the very
edge of space.
5
In 1960, a United States Air Force test pilot
rode a helium balloon to 106,000 feet. Then,
wearing a parachute and a special pressurized
suit, he jumped out. He free-fell for four and a
half minutes, reaching 614 miles per hour. His
parachute opened and he descended safely to
Earth. His altitude, speed, and free-fall records
stood for over 50 years.
6
In 2012, an energy drink sponsored the
“Stratos” project, recruiting a professional
Reading Informational Text: Craft and Structure 1
CRAFT AND STRUCTURE
Copyright © by William H. Sadlier, Inc. Permission to duplicate classroom quantities granted to users of Common Core Progress.
Floating to Space: Adventures in High-Altitude Ballooning continued
skydiver to break the record set in 1960. The
cabin. They reached altitudes of 37,000 feet
jumper rode a gas balloon to an altitude of
as global winds carried them around the
127,000 feet. He stepped out of the basket and
world. They eventually landed in the deserts
recorded his descent for millions of Internet
of Egypt. They were the first people to circle
fans around the world. The earlier record
the globe by balloon.
holder served as his radio contact at mission
10 Extreme ballooning has its share of critics.
control, cheering him on as he broke the
Many consider the sport to be little more
altitude and speed records.
than daredevil stunts with no scientific
7 Reaching enormous heights isn’t a problem
value. These opinions flew fast and thick
for balloons. Distance is another matter. In
when two billionaire businessmen made
a hot-air balloon, the pilot raises altitude
several unsuccessful attempts to fly balloons
by heating the air in the balloon with a
around the world. (One eventually succeeded,
propane burner and descends by releasing
performing the first solo around-the-world
hot air from a vent at the top. The pilot can
balloon flight.) Many media outlets also
take the balloon through these maneuvers
criticized the Stratos flight. Some called it
any number of times. Gas balloons are more
a “publicity stunt” for the drink brand that
limited. Once a gas balloon has ascended,
sponsored the jump.
to return to Earth, the balloonist releases
11 While a thirst for adventure surely
the gas, at which point the balloon cannot
motivates the people who break these
ascend again. In both types of balloon, the
records, this isn’t a good reason to dismiss
only forward motion comes from the wind.
their accomplishments. The original mission
Balloonists cannot control their direction or
of the air force test pilot’s 1960 jump was to
speed. Traveling long distances with these
test whether high-altitude pilots, or even
limitations is a major challenge.
astronauts, could safely bail out of their craft
8 The greatest ballooning challenge was,
in case of an emergency. This type of research
of course, to balloon nonstop around the
was renewed after the tragic loss of the Space
world. To do so required an entirely new
Shuttle Columbia. The Stratos jump led to
kind of balloon: a gas/hot-air hybrid known
new developments in pressurized suits.
as a Roziere balloon, after its inventor,
While many object to billionaires and private
Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier. The Roziere
companies getting involved in research and
contains a pocket of buoyant gas, usually
exploration, the reality is that commercial
helium, contained within a traditional hotflights are very likely the future of space
air balloon. The gas provides lift without
travel. Space tourism will certainly be run by
the constant use of fuel. The hot-air balloon
private companies, rather than government
provides altitude control.
agencies such as NASA. Those who push the
boundaries of ballooning, whether it is for
9 In 1999, two balloonists from Switzerland
height or distance, are taking steps toward
and Great Britain took off from the Swiss Alps
inexpensive, accessible space flight for
in a specialized Roziere. For nearly twenty
everyone.
days, the men lived in a sealed, pressurized
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Reading Informational Text: Craft and Structure 2
CRAFT AND STRUCTURE
Comprehension Check
1A. What is the most likely reason the
2A. What is the author’s main purpose
author included a paragraph about
the very first balloonists?
in this essay?
a. to encourage people to support
a. to show that balloons have had
and fund high-altitude ballooning
more time to develop than other
aircraft
b. to instruct people on how to
get involved with high-altitude
ballooning
b. to show the long history of
Copyright © by William H. Sadlier, Inc. Permission to duplicate classroom quantities granted to users of Common Core Progress.
European achievement in ballooning
c. to argue against criticisms of high-
c. to show that scientific exploration
altitude ballooning
has always been part of ballooning
d. to inform readers of exciting events
d. to show how far the latest
in high-altitude ballooning.
ballooning has come from its early
recreational days
2B. Which detail from the text best supports
your answer in Part A?
1B. Which sentence from the text does NOT
a. The text lists several world-record
provide a clue to the answer for Part A?
balloon flights.
a. “The inventors of the lighter-than-
b. The text describes how difficult it is
air balloon were not interested in
sightseeing.”
to pilot a balloon.
c. The text includes the critical opinion
b. “In the 1780s, two separate groups
that ballooning is a stunt.
of French scientists built and flew
balloons.”
d. The text describes advances in
research that balloonists have made.
c. “One group filled their balloon
with gas, the other with hot air.”
d. “These were the very first human
flights, taking place more than a
century before the invention of
the airplane.”
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Reading Informational Text: Craft and Structure 3
CRAFT AND STRUCTURE
3.What is the author’s opinion of high-altitude ballooning, and how does
Copyright © by William H. Sadlier, Inc. Permission to duplicate classroom quantities granted to users of Common Core Progress.
she defend that opinion? Use details from the text to support your answer.
4A. What is the most likely definition of
4B. What context clue best helps you
the word placid in paragraph 1?
find the answer in Part A?
a. simple or primitive
a. describing balloons as “colorful
bubbles”
b. silly or foolish
b. describing the “peaceful landscapes”
c. peaceful or soothing
and “charming wicker baskets” that
are typical of ballooning
d. playful or lively
c. defining the word as a kind of
stereotype
d. associating the word with tourists
and recreation
5.Why did the author include a technical explanation of how altitude is
controlled in gas and hot-air balloons? Why is the explanation placed
where it is in the essay?
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Reading Informational Text: Craft and Structure 4
CRAFT AND STRUCTURE
6A. The technical meaning of the
6B. Which phrase or sentence from
word buoyant is
paragraph 8 provides the best clue
for your answer in Part A?
a. less dense than the surrounding
a. “a gas/hot-air hybrid known
gas or liquid.
as a Roziere balloon”
b. able to float; seaworthy.
b. “usually helium”
c. cheerful or happy.
c. “the gas provides lift”
d. encouraging; uplifting.
d. “The hot-air balloon provides
Copyright © by William H. Sadlier, Inc. Permission to duplicate classroom quantities granted to users of Common Core Progress.
altitude control.”
7.Reread paragraph 8. What is the context clue that helps you know the
meaning of the word Roziere? Define the word.
Unit 7
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Reading Informational Text: Craft and Structure 5