Ted Thornhill
Mail Online
October 28, 2011
The record for the highest altitude powered airship has just ballooned to an amazing 95,085 feet (18 miles) – the edge of space.
Incredibly, the feat was achieved by volunteer space enthusiasts for the not-so-astronomical sum of $30,000 (£19,000).
Called Tandem and made by California-based JP Aerospace, it took off from Nevada’s Black Rock desert last Saturday and broke the airship altitude record by over 20,000 feet (four miles).
Tandem is a steerable ship and is not to be confused with research balloons, which often soar to stratospheric heights of 135,000 feet.
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