Completes Successful Test For 2016 Journey By Balloon To The Edge Of Space

Commercial balloon spaceflight company World View has successfully completed a scaled test flight of its high-altitude balloon spaceflight system, and claims it has broken the world record for highest parafoil flight in the process.

Launching in 2016, World View will have Voyagers floating peacefully to the edge of space for a two-hour sailing-like experience within a luxuriously engineered pressurized capsule transported by a parafoil and high-altitude balloon. In a news release announcing the test, the company said "guests will enjoy 360-degree vistas of the world’s most spectacular panorama, marveling at the beauty of the Earth below, watching the sun slowly rise above the curvature of our planet suspended in a vast, black and infinite universe. In addition to offering breathtaking experiences for Voyagers, the capabilities being developed by World View will offer unprecedented and affordable access to the near-space environment for educators, researchers, private companies and government agencies alike."

World View says the test validated the full flight profile of the spaceflight system, lifting a 10 percent scale system to 120,000 feet to the edge of space and back down to 50,000 feet where the transition to a parafoil was successfully executed, unofficially breaking the world record. This allowed for further validation of the precision guided landing system of the space vehicle.

The flight tested several essential components for consumer flights and captured imagery of the view that will be afforded to Voyagers in 2016.

(Images provided by World View)

FMI: http://worldviewexperience.com