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" The ballooning strategy Carl uses in UP, called cluster ballooning, first started in 1937 and is gaining popularity today. (The MythBusters even devoted a segment to it.) Balloonists sit in a harness that is connected to a bouquet of helium-filled balloons and take off, sometimes reaching altitudes exceeding 10,000 feet and traveling farther than 100 miles. The aviator ascends by adding more balloons and descends by releasing or popping balloons with darts, BB guns or other projectiles.  UP has the potential to open people&amp;#039;s eyes to the wonders of ballooning, Baird says. &amp;quot;I think man in general is fascinated with flight,&amp;quot; he says. &amp;quot;In my opinion, ballooning is the purest form of flight because it&amp;#039;s the closest you&amp;#039;ll get to floating.&amp;quot; The folks at Disney-Pixar aren&amp;#039;t the only ones who have explored the endless possibilities of ballooning. Here are six record-setting ballooners on par with Carl&amp;#039;s flying house. Crossing the Atlantic  In 1978, Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson and Larry Newman flew 3120 miles across the Atlantic Ocean in their hot air and gas balloon, the  Double Eagle II. Their trip--the first flight of its kind--began in Presque Isle, Maine, and ended in Evreux, France. It took the trio 137 hours to set the record. Abruzzo and Anderson had previously attempted the trek in 1977, but the journey ended when their balloon crashed into the Atlantic off the coast of Iceland. Around the World in Helium On March 1, 1999, Bertrand Piccard  and Brian Jones began their attempt to circumnavigate the globe in the helium-powered Breitling Orbiter 3, taking off in Chateau d&amp;#039;Oex, Switzerland. After 19 days, 21 hours and 55 minutes, the duo successfully landed in Mauritania--a distance of 29,055 miles. They were the first humans to travel around the world in a hot air balloon.  Around the World, Alone The late thrill seeker Steve Fossett attempted to fly solo around the globe in 1998, but his balloon caught fire after traveling 14,000 miles, ending his journey in a 29,000-foot fall into the Coral Sea. Undeterred by his first failed attempt, Fossett ascended into the air and successfully soloed a balloon around the world in 2002. He covered 20,602 miles during his two-week journey, starting and finishing in Australia. Highest Balloon Ever In June 2008, 19 Cornell graduate students working with Lockheed Martin set the world amateur high-altitude balloon record when their unmanned balloon reached 125,000 feet--breaking the record by almost 5000 feet. The team was one out of 40 competing schools. Highest Jump From a Balloon During the late 1950s, Capt. Joe Kittinger led the U.S. Air Force&amp;#039;s Project Excelsior in an effort to begin developing high-altitude escape methods for astronauts. In 1957, he made the first manned high ascent in a high-altitude balloon, reaching 96,000 feet. In November and December of 1959, Kittinger ascended to heights of more than 76,000 feet in a balloon filled with almost 3 million cubic feet of helium. Once he reached altitude, he jumped out of the balloon&amp;#039;s gondola to test parachutes that were meant to prevent astronauts from going into a life-threatening flat spin.  Fastest Airship Ready for more after his successful 2002 around-the-world balloon solo, Steve Fossett went out to break the speed record for airships in a German-built Zeppelin NT in October 2004. Fossett and his co-pilot averaged about 70 mph over a 2000 mile stretch, breaking the previous record of 58 mph.  RELATED STORIES * PLUS: 4 New Blimp Designs Bring Return of the Airship  * GALLERY: The Largest, Heaviest Amateur Rocket Ever Launched  * BALLOON SCIENCE: NASA&amp;#039;s Experimental Balloons Fly Over Antarctica  * EARLIER: Top 5 Skydiving Records From the Last 50 Years  * DIGITAL HOLLYWOOD: All of PM&amp;#039;s Movie and TV Coverage  * FOLLOW US: Popular Mechanics Is Now on Twitter!  * FRIEND US: Find PM on Facebook   "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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