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World View tests a small version of its balloon-powered spacecraft
World View, the company that plans to offer relatively affordable trips to the edge of space using ginormous helium balloons, has successfully completed its first major test flight. While it aims to use balloons the size of a football stadium for the actual flights, the one it tested is a scaled-down version carrying a replica spacecraft. The test system reached an altitude of 100,475 feet, which means the company reached its goal: it promised to take passengers 100,000 feet (around 20 miles) up in the air inside a capsule for one to two hours, after all. That's about 40 miles below sub-orbital space, but it's still high enough for passengers to clearly see the curvature of our planet.
