04. 03. 99
Tomorrow Egypt

B. Piccard gets out of the gondola in order to break the ice

The log book

17:30 GMT: Breitling Orbiter 3 is currently flying in the lower part of the subtropical jet stream at approximately 8000 meters (24'000 feet) and 100 km/h (55-60 knots) over Algeria and is currently taking an eastern route towards Libya and Egypt. Everything is still going exactly according to plans. The balloon should enter Libyan airspace around 01:00am GMT tomorrow morning and reach Egypt in the afternoon. The curve onto the eastern route is proving slightly slower than expected, but it has the benefit of moving the craft further South than the original forecast, which will help the meteorologists manœuver the craft on to a good track to India and then into the Chinese corridor. This is not worrying at all as the fuel consumption is lower than expected: so far, only 4 of the 32 containers have been emptied." This time, we really have the impression of starting the round-the-world flight ", said Bertrand Piccard, as the balloon passed the Greenwich Meridian at precisely 03:19pm GMT. The meteorologists are currently aiming to bring the balloon to a triple point between the North of Yemen, Oman and Saudi Arabia Saturday night. Breitling Orbiter will then speed up to about 70 knots (about 126 km/h). Life on board is still very peaceful and both pilots are in high spirits. Early this morning, the balloon descended to 2000 meters, in order to allow the desert sun to melt the giant icicles that have formed around the bottom of the envelope. Bertrand Piccard climbed out of the gondola to break some of the icicles with an ice pick and clean the windows. Both pilots took this opportunity to breathe some fresh air and take a very short walk for the very first time. " This wasn’t a dangerous operation. We felt so safe on the gondola that we didn’t even attach our harness. But I must admit the sight of the empty space was very impressive " commented the Swiss psychiatrist, as his team mate was taking a well deserved nap, after repairing the melted plug of the kettle and the electrical lead to one of the laptops. The pilots weren’t able to climb out of the capsule before : at an altitude of 5000 meters, the temperature is too cold and the oxygen too rare. So far, Breitling Orbiter has flown approximately 4000 kilometers since its launch in Château d’Oex, on Monday. 10:00 GMT: The two pilots have just confirmed that they were able to remove the ice stalactites hanging from the balloon envelope. The balloon will rise again and continue its route towards Algeria, Lybia and Egypt. 06:00 GMT: This past night was somewhat more intense than previous ones due to the necessity of completing the maneuver which started during the day as the balloon turned towards the East. There was also the preparations required to go to a lower flight level, to about 2000 meters, so as to be able to get rid of the huge icicles. All night, they flew at about 50km an hour,at an altitude of about 5600 meters.