1. A half-dozen NASA shuttle assembly missions and five Russian Progress cargo and Soyuz crew capsule flights followed as planned. 2. A sudden gust freed the gas-filled envelope from its mooring, leaving the crew capsule on the ground. 3. But for the courage of a team member who crawled outside the crew capsule to jettison a heavy fuel tank, the balloon would probably have crashed. 4. Fossett, unlike his competitors, will fly alone in an unpressurized crew capsule. 5. His grandfather, Auguste Piccard, also a medical doctor, was the first balloonist to reach the stratosphere in a pressurized crew capsule. 6. In an effort to assure funding and stop further delays of the service module, NASA is negotiating for the purchase of two Russian Soyuz crew capsules. 7. None of the crew members were injured in the landing, and the valuable crew capsule, packed with expensive equipment, escaped serious damage. 8. Only after one of the crew members climbed outside the crew capsule and released a heavy fuel tank did the balloon halt its precipitous fall. 9. The big crew capsule, built to accommodate three people, had not yet been attached to the lifting balloon. 10. The crown jewel of Sea Cliff is its crew capsule. |