Record-setting pilot talks STEM to students

Troy Bradley has traveled around the world and broken dozens of world records. In fact, the latest one set weeks ago is being verified by national authorities.

Bradley, a hot air balloon pilot and Albuquerque native was in Las Cruces Wednesday morning, breaking down the science of balloon travel for students at University Hills Elementary School.

“It’s 90,000 cubic feet of air, which means 90,000 basketballs would fit inside of this balloon,” Bradley said from the basket of the Intel hot air balloon he inflated to display for the gaping third-, fourth- and fifth-graders.

He’s in the City of the Crosses on behalf of Intel, the semiconductor manufacturing company, promoting the study of science, technology, engineering and math — or STEM.

“We want them to pursue these fields,” he told ABC-7. That’s where the future lies.”

It was at the end of January when Bradley was in the gondola of a gas-filled balloon, floating from Japan across the Pacific Ocean to Mexico — reaching new heights in ballooning.

The documentation hasn’t been approved yet. But once it is, Bradley and his ballooning partner will have shattered the previous record by traveling 6,700 miles and clocking 160 hours in the air.

“We spent much of that time monitoring our altitude, our tracking and our speed. We were in constant communication with our command center in Albuquerque,” he said as he described the mentally and physically grueling work during the balloon flight.

“It’s absolutely amazing to feel the sense of doing something that has never been done in the world.”

Bradley spent seven days in the air and hopes the minutes spent on the ground with the students influence their own paths in life.

“It’s not about ballooning,” Bradley said. “It’s about pushing the limits of whatever they go into, whether it be computers, medical or any field, and making things better for humanity.”

The balloon that Bradley took across the ocean is now on display in Albuquerque.

The record must be verified by the national and international aeronautic associations, which could take a few weeks or even months.