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{{short description|Series of hot air balloons}}
{{italic title}}
[[Image:Breitling Orbiter 3.jpg|right|thumb|160px|Spare envelope of the ''Breitling Orbiter 2'' exhibited as ''Breitling Orbiter 3'' at the Gasometer Oberhausen from 2004 to 2006]]

'''''Breitling Orbiter''''' was the name of three different [[Rozière balloon]]s made by the [[Bristol]]-based balloon manufacturer [[Cameron Balloons]] to [[circumnavigate]] the globe, named after the Swiss watchmakers [[Breitling SA|Breitling]]. The third was successful in March 1999 of making the first nonstop flight around the world by balloon. It was piloted by [[Bertrand Piccard]] and [[Brian Jones (aeronaut)|Brian Jones]].<ref>[http://records.fai.org/balloons/ Fédération Aéronautique Internationale] {{webarchive |title=Web archive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080130044525/http://records.fai.org/balloons/ |date=January 30, 2008 }}</ref>

== ''Breitling Orbiter 3'' ==
{| class="infobox" style="width: 21em; text-align: left;"
|+ <big>'''''Breitling Orbiter 3'''''</big>
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | [[Image:Breitling Orbiter Side.jpg|220px|center]] ''Breitling Orbiter 3'' gondola side view
|-
!align="center" colspan="2"| Balloon
|-
!Height:
|180 ft (55 m) inflated
|-
!Fuel:
|[[Propane]]
|-
!Type:
|[[Rozier balloon]]
|-
!Model:
|Cameron R-650
|-
!align="center" colspan="2"| Gondola
|-
!Height:
|10 ft 3 in (3.1 m)
|-
!Length:
|17 ft 10 in (5.4 m)
|-
!Weight:
|4,400 lb (2,000 kg) empty
|-
!Material:
|[[Kevlar]] and [[carbon fiber]] composite weave
|-
!Cabin Air:
|nitrogen-oxygen mixture
|-
!Cabin Pressure:
|{{convert|3.5|psi|kPa|abbr=on}} at altitude
|-
!Manufacturer:
|[[Cameron Balloons]], 1998
|-
!Location:
|Gondola: [[Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center|Udvar-Hazy Center]], [[National Air and Space Museum]], Dulles Airport outside Washington D.C.
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | [[Image:Breitling Orbiter End.jpg|220px]] ''Breitling Orbiter 3'' gondola end view
|}
'''''Breitling Orbiter 3''''' was the first [[balloon]] to fly around the world non-stop, piloted by [[Bertrand Piccard]] and [[Brian Jones (aeronaut)|Brian Jones]]. Designed and built by [[Cameron Balloons]], of [[Bristol]], [[England]], ''Breitling Orbiter 3'' stood 180 ft (55 m) tall when inflated completely. The propane gas that fueled its six burners was contained in 28 titanium cylinders mounted in two rows along the sides of the gondola. Concerned about fuel consumption, the team added four additional propane containers prior to launch; these additions proved necessary to complete the trip. The Breitling Orbiter 3 held the record for the longest distance un-refuelled flight ({{convert|40,813|km|mi|abbr=on|order=flip}}) of any aircraft in aviation history until the 2006 flight of the [[Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer]]. It still holds the record for the longest duration un-refuelled flight (19 days, 21 hours and 47 minutes).<ref name="History of Cameron"> </ref>

The gondola is on display in the [[Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center|Udvar-Hazy Center]] at the [[National Air and Space Museum]] at Dulles Airport outside Washington, D.C. A model of the Orbiter 3 constructed with a spare Orbiter 2 envelope was exhibited at [[Gasometer Oberhausen]] from 2004 to 2006.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bristol/content/madeinbristol/2004/04/breitlinger/balloon_model.shtml|title=BBC - Made in Bristol - Making a model of the Breitlinger Balloon|website=www.bbc.co.uk|access-date=2019-03-03}}</ref>

=== Balloon ===
The ''Breitling Orbiter 3'' was a [[Don Cameron (balloonist)|Cameron]] R-650 [[Rozière balloon]], which combines the features of a [[hot-air balloon]] and a [[gas balloon]], with a [[helium]] cell within a hot-air envelope. Initially, the helium cell is filled to approximately 47% of its maximum capacity. During ascent, warming by the sun causes the helium to expand even more than the surrounding air, which aids the balloon in gaining altitude (unlike the expansion caused by the drop in atmospheric pressure, which can even hinder that until the air and helium temperatures equalize). <ref name="History of Cameron">{{cite web |title=History of Cameron Balloons |url=http://cameronballoons.co.uk/faq/historyofcameronballoons |website=cameronballoons.co.uk |publisher=Cameronballoons}}</ref>

=== Gondola ===
The ''Breitling Orbiter 3'' gondola was constructed of a weave of [[Kevlar]] and [[carbon fiber]] material. After launching, the cabin was sealed at 6,000 ft (1,800 m) to trap the air within it. During the flight the cabin atmosphere was supplemented by [[nitrogen]] and [[oxygen]]; [[carbon dioxide]] was removed by [[lithium hydroxide]] filters. Cabin pressure was maintained at around {{convert|3.5|psi|kPa|abbr=on}} by adding oxygen and nitrogen to the cabin air as necessary. At 33,000 ft (10,000 m), the [[cabin pressure]] equaled [[atmospheric pressure]] at 10,000 ft (3,000 m). [[Photovoltaic module|Solar panel]]s suspended beneath the gondola recharged the on-board lead-acid batteries that provided electrical power. Satellite-based systems enabled the crew to navigate via [[Global Positioning System|GPS]] as well as communicate.

=== Flight ===
Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones launched from the [[Switzerland|Swiss]] [[Swiss Alps|Alpine]] village of [[Château-d'Oex]] at 8:05, GMT, March 1, 1999.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Taub |first=Ben |date=October 3, 2022 |title=Bertrand Piccard's Laps Around the World |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/10/10/bertrand-piccards-laps-around-the-world |journal=New Yorker |volume=98 |issue=32 |pages=42–53}}</ref> They traveled southwest over the Mediterranean and then swung east over [[Mauritania]] on March 2 at a starting meridian of 9 degrees, 12 minutes west. They landed in the [[Egypt]]ian desert after being aloft 19 days, 21 hours, and 55 minutes on March 21, 1999, having traveled a distance of 25,361 mi (40,814 km). During the course of the flight, the balloon had climbed to altitudes of up to 38,507 ft (11,737 m), and achieved speeds up to {{convert|123|kn|mph kph}}. The official "finish line" of the circumnavigation occurred over Mauritania at 4:54 AM, EST on March 19. The goal of ending in Egypt had been to touch down near the [[Great Pyramids]]; however, high winds forced the pilots to land short of their target about 80 kilometers north of [[Dakhla Oasis|Mut]]. Aboard, they carried a copy of [[Guy de Maupassant]]'s ''A Life'', which had been inscribed by Maupassant to [[Jules Verne]], who had imagined such a flight in his novel, ''Five Weeks in a Balloon''. The book had been loaned to the pilots to carry for good luck by a grandson of Jules Verne from the novelist's personal library.<ref name=AP>Associated Press, "'Grandiose' Trip Ends: Balloonists tough down in Egyptian desert", March 22, 1999, </ref>

Jones noted Piccard's [[Geneva]] news conference remarks: "We took off as friends and landed as brothers." <ref name="at time 51:15">{{cite web |title=Breitling Orbiter 3: GOSH Documentary |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSmrHsG2v8I&t=302s |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211218/kSmrHsG2v8I |archive-date=2021-12-18 |url-status=live|website=Youtube.com |publisher=Youtube |accessdate=20 June 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

The daily routine was for each man to spend eight hours alone at the controls, eight hours working with his crewmate, and eight hours in the single [[bunk bed|bunk]]. A unique pressure-operated [[toilet]] was included in a curtained off area at the rear of the craft. Despite the use of heaters designed to maintain a cabin temperature of {{convert|59|F|C}}, temperatures occasionally decreased so much at night that drinking water froze and ice had to be chipped away from delicate electronic circuitry on the interior walls.

When asked by reporter Howard Schneider about the fate of ''Breitling Orbiter 3'', the project manager Alan Noble remarked that the sponsors and the team "...would probably donate the craft to a museum. Possibly the National Air and Space Museum or the Smithsonian."<ref>Howard Schneider, "Earthbound but on Cloud Nine", ''[[The Washington Post]]'', March 22, 1999,</ref> And indeed the gondola was located for several years on the ground floor of the National Air and Space Museum in the Milestones of Flight Gallery, next to the [[Wright Brothers]] [[Wright Flyer|1903 ''Flyer'']], [[Charles Lindbergh|Charles Lindbergh's]] ''[[Spirit of St. Louis]]'', the [[Mercury Atlas 6|Mercury ''Friendship 7'' capsule]], the [[Gemini 4|''Gemini IV'' capsule]], the [[Apollo 11]] [[command module Columbia|command module ''Columbia'']], and ''[[Scaled Composites SpaceShipOne|Space Ship One]]''.

The gondola is now displayed at the Udvar-Hazy Center of the [[National Air and Space Museum]], Dulles Airport outside Washington D.C.

== See also ==
* ''[[Solar Impulse]]''
* [[List of circumnavigations]]
* [[National Air and Space Museum]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Breitling Orbiter 3}}
* [http://www.orbiterballoon.com/ Brian Jones' personal website for the orbiter project]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1998/11/98/great_balloon_challenge/299847.stm BBC NEWS: Life inside ''Breitling Orbiter 3'']
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110402165053/http://www.nasm.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?id=A19990257000 National Air and Space Museum page for the orbiter]

[[Category:Individual balloons (aircraft)]]
[[Category:Breitling SA]]
[[Category:History of ballooning]]

Breitling Orbiter - Revision history

109.224.135.249: /* External links */ History