Fedor Konyukhov, the famous Russian adventurer, has recently outlined his plans for his next world record attempt.
The 64-year-old is planning to break the world record for flying at altitude in a hot air balloon. Konyukhov plans to set off from the Vostochny Cosmodrome, which will be Russia’s first space launch site designed for civilian use when construction is completed.
The announcement came following a meeting between Konyukhov and Vladimir Vladimirov, the regional governor of Krasnodar. In this discussion, it was clarified that one of the flight’s main aims is to raise awareness of the space centre to the whole world, highlighting that it is a public facility and not just for private and classified missions.
Furthermore, on his trip, Konyukhov will be testing a range of tools which scientists believe can help to patch up holes in the ozone layer – showing that this is more than a hot air balloon world record attempt.
Experts from six different countries are believed to be working on the vessel already, including specialists from Russia, the US, and Great Britain. The outer envelope of the balloon is set to have a volume of around 100,000 cubic metres, which will put it in contention to be the largest balloon ever made.
The current world record stands at 21km above sea level, and is held by an Indian balloonist. To break the record, the Russian is aiming to take the balloon ‘into the stratosphere’ at a height of 25km.
Konyukhov is no stranger to breaking records, having broken the record for longest nonstop flight on his last hot air balloon adventure.
