1.   This was the first Gordon Bennett race where balloons could travel over the airspace of the former Soviet Union.

2.   Balloons can travel at well over six miles an hour... but not today... the roller was well ahead...

3.   A built-in safety mechanism designed to release the gas meant the balloon would not travel too far.

4.   Their Pacific crossing set an all-time record for distance travelled by balloon, a record they hope to shatter with this trip.

5.   Beijing had given permission for the ICO Global balloon to travel only over southernmost China.

6.   If all goes well, the balloon will travel over Korea and Japan before starting the long Pacific crossing.