Balloon pilot Colin Prescot (R) and Andy Elson (L) sport Russian space
suits as they stand in front of the QinetiQ 1 flight platform during
final testing for a world altitude attempt, July 10, 2003. The two
pilots will launch their balloon from a ship off the southern English
coastline in the next two months, when weather conditions are deemed
suitable, and attempt to reach an altitude of 132,000 feet (40,000
metres). The flight platform will be carried aloft by the biggest
manned balloon in history at 1250 feet tall, almost the same height as
the Empire State Building. REUTERS/Peter Macdiarmid

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