Balloonists Crossing Pacific Set Distance Record

"Two balloonists have unofficially left a distance record in their wake as they head east over the Pacific Ocean. They lifted off from Japan, and now they're getting ready for a landing on Saturday somewhere on Mexico's Baja peninsula."

"American Troy Bradley and Russian Leonid Tiukhtyaev, dubbed the "Two Eagles," surpassed a 5,209-mile distance record for gas balloons on Thursday. The previous record was set in 1981 by Ben Abruzzo, Larry Newman, Ron Clark and Rock Aoki aboard Double Eagle V, which also launched from Japan. (In 1999, Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones circumnavigated in a hybrid helium/hot-air balloon, the Breitling Orbiter 3.)"