03. 03. 99
Jetstreams for tomorrow

Brian Jones checking the oxygen tanks control unit

The log book

19:00 GMT: Breitling Orbiter 3, who is now flying at 5500 meters at about 45 km/h over Mauritania, is currently starting to turn East/North East towards Algeria, Libya and Egypt. Life on board is still very peaceful and the flight plan has been exactly as predicted by the team meteorologists. Tomorrow, the crew will lower down to 2000 meters to defrost the balloon . "We can actually see 3 meters long stalactites, some of them touching the propane burners. It’s a wonderful sight", commented Bertrand Piccard. Ice increases the weight of the Orbiter and therefore the fuel consumption. One of the pilots will climb outside the gondola to break the icicles with an ice pick. Breitling Orbiter will then fly just under the subtropical jet stream, but will not enter its core, as the jet stream is currently blowing towards Iraq. For the next few days, the gondola will have to keep its relatively slow pace in the lower part of the jet stream at an altitude of approximately 7000 meters and a speed of between 70km/h and 100km/h, depending on the options chosen. It should reach Saudi Arabia by Saturday. The only technical difficulties being experienced by the team are on the ground. The control centre has had some problems in communicating with the balloon via its Immarsat satellite data link. This is thought to be due to congestion caused by heavy demand. Nevertheless, Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones were still able to send the first video pictures from the gondola. These video mails will very shortly be available on Internet. " We’re both very relaxed and extremely happy " said Brian Jones. So far, Breitling Orbiter has flown approximately 3000 kilometers since its launch in Château d’Oex, on Monday. Team meteorologists calculated that it would take only 4 days to reach the Pacific Ocean if the Breitling Orbiter 3 could enter Chinese airspace further North than the permitted limit of 26°N. 16:00 GMT: The pilots called the Geneva Center. Everything is fine.Tomorrow morning they will break the ice off the capsule. Upon their passage yesterday night in a humid front staclactites have formed which make the capsule heavier. 09:00 GMT: "A quiet an uneventful night" was how the pilots of Breitling Orbiter 3 described their 12 hours of darkness. All balloon system appear to be operating normally and their position at dawn, a few hundred km east of Agadir in Morocco, was exactly as predicted by the team's meteorologists. Later today, over Mauretania, the balloon is expected to turn towards the East Norht East and head for Algeria, Libya and Egypt. Winds should then increase and speed the passage of the craft. 05:00 GMT: We just received a small message from Bertrand Piccard saying that he had an increadible view of the snowy Atlas mountains by full moon.