Pilots land helium-filled balloon safely in Mexico after record-breaking flight

After nearly 7,000 miles in the air, Troy Bradley of Albuquerque and Leonid Tiukhtyaev of Russia came back to earth on Saturday, landing their helium-filled balloon four miles offshore of Baja California, The Associated Press reports.

The Two Eagles Balloon team took off from Japan early on Sunday morning; a little less than a week later, they had broken at least two long-standing records for ballooning; the pilots easily exceeded the previous distance record of 5,209 miles, and also set a new duration record of six days, 16 hours, and 38 minutes in the air.

The official distance and time of the flight still has to be confirmed by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale, so in the meantime, feast your eyes on the views from above. —Sarah Eberspacher

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