The situation is that the higher you go, the more fuel is used. So usually you trade speed for fuel. We are not that concerned at the moment, but we are just driving it very hard. It is a very dangerous place and we are not taking any chances.
We were beset with all sorts of problems from the beginning when we launched in Marrakech, but they were all political.
We are going to look ... for the fastest, most direct route out of China, which is what the balloon wants to do anyway.
We just got word that Virgin Airlines (which Branson owns) was awarded a commercial route into Shanghai. So the balloon must be doing some good.
There was no escape from it once we got sucked in. We tried all sorts of maneuvering but still it shot us in a southerly direction and we couldn't get out of it.
We're accelerating all the time and we're hoping to get to the west coast of the U.S. by Christmas Day, but it's difficult to predict.
Timing is absolutely critical. We need to land it before it gets too hot. The good news is the weather is quite calm. At this point, we're treating it like a normal landing.
We want to fly over the top of this depression before it deepens and sucks us in.
In the end, a weather problem is what stopped us, but that is the nature of ballooning.
If they went down right now, the nearest ship is four days steaming away, and that's not good.
