real-life version of the balloon-floating house from up

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Mar 08, 2011

first image
national geographic's TV series 'how hard can it be?' launches a small house into flight using only balloons

in a project organized by national geographic, a team of engineers, scientists, and balloon pilots transformed fiction into reality
when they launched a small house into the skies, modeled after the pixar film 'up'.

complete with people onboard, the house was lifted 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) into the air, and flew for about one hour.

the house taking off

from concept to flight, the entire project was realized over the course of two weeks
as a feature for national geographic's new television series 'how hard can it be?'.

the engineers discovered that floating a full-size house is in fact an extremely difficult task.
the structure that they built for the project is 16 feet square, weighing about 2,000 pounds
and carrying about 600 pounds of crew.

each of the three hundred balloons used an entire tank of helium to inflate to eight feet tall.
together the balloons measure over ten stories, realizing a world record for largest cluster balloon flight ever attempted.

the team finished construction on the house and inflated and assembled the balloons overnight

left: view of the balloons above, as seen from within the house
right: three hundred balloons, each measuring 8 feet tall when inflated, were used for the project

process shot

national geographic's documentation of the project

via dailymail

jenny db

03.08.11

balloons (25 articles)

Too bad it was such a cheesy house! But it seems like a lot of fun to try.

David Cacho says:

Mar 08, 2011

Reply
It’s not cheesy. It was modelled after the one in the movie ‘Up’. I think it’s quite inspired, if not a wee bit dangerous!

Leslie Wilson-Rutterford says:

Mar 08, 2011

Reply
How did it land, and how did they orient it in the air?? using the normal Balloons techniques??! I wonder!

Revancha Cortez says:

Mar 08, 2011

Reply
and how does it goes down?

i loved it.

Paula Plee says:

Mar 08, 2011

Reply
nothing is impossible! congratz!

NK says:

Mar 08, 2011

Reply
I would love to wander out my front door and see this floating in the sky!

Sparky says:

Mar 08, 2011

Reply
Love the idea! Where did the house land?

waichita says:

Mar 09, 2011

Reply
That’s just hilarious. I almost feel tempted to try this on my own house!

But seriously, I also wonder about the landing. It can’t be easy to land with such thing.

Jay B. says:

Mar 09, 2011

Reply
Kinda fun but are they desperate for content?! (Party pooper-I wish we could focus our creative intellect on solving oil dependance…)

remember easter island says:

Mar 13, 2011

Reply
neat, beautiful, but sort of a waste of helium, which is in shortening supply and is not renewable…

sci.phys says:

Mar 14, 2011

Reply

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balloons (25 articles)

the skywhale hot-air balloon by patricia piccinini

commissioned for the centenary of canberra, the animated hot-air balloon will fly around australia (read more)

20-foot dinosaur made from balloons by airigami

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balloon dresses by rie hosokai and takashi kawada

the japanese artist creates elaborate fashion pieces from an unlikely material - each dress produced (read more)

golden balloons support glass tabletop - UP by christopher duffy

the concept is a light-hearted trompe l'oeil - playing on the illusion of levitation and buoyancy.

marimekko balloon installation by schemata architects

the firm celebrated the finnish brand's tokyo shop opening with an abundance of colorful balloons (read more)

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