Balloon (aircraft) facts for kids
A balloon is a kind of aircraft that stays in the sky by floating. People fly in balloons mostly for fun.
A balloon is different from an airship. An airship is a floating aircraft that has an engine and can change its direction of movement. A balloon has no engine and has no way to change its direction of movement (except up and down). A balloon travels by moving with the wind.
The bottom of the balloon is called the "basket" where people can sit or stand.
The top of a balloon is a big cloth bag called the "envelope".
Kinds of balloon aircraft
There are three kinds of balloon aircraft:
- Hot air balloons stay in the sky by making the air inside the envelope hot. Making the air hot makes the air spread out (have lower density). Hot air balloons are the most common kind of balloon aircraft. People sometimes say "hot air balloon" to mean any kind of balloon aircraft. But this is not exactly correct.
- Gas balloons are not hot. Gas balloons have gas of low density in their envelopes. Examples of the gas used in gas balloons are helium and hydrogen.
- Rozière balloons are like both hot air balloons and gas balloons. Part of the envelope has hot air in it. Part of the envelope has a gas that's not hot in it. Rozière balloons can fly very far. Rozière balloons have flown around the world without stopping.
Images for kids
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A hot air balloon in flight
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In 1999, Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones achieved the first non-stop balloon circumnavigation in Breitling Orbiter 3.
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Hot air balloons, San Diego
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Gas balloons at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta
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A modern Kongming Lantern
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Bartolomeu de Gusmão's prototype airship Passarola devised 1709.
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A model of the Montgolfier brothers balloon at the London Science Museum
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Henri Giffard's tethered passenger balloon prior to an ascent from Tuilerie Garden in 1878.
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Close-up view of an American major in the basket of an observation balloon flying over territory near front lines during World War I.
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A special-shape hot air balloon – Chubb fire extinguisher
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Lana's aeronautic machine
See also
In Spanish: Globo aerostático para niños
