Albuquerque Balloon Museum

On a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is nailing your toe to the floor and 10 is finding gold in your back yard, the Albuquerque Balloon Museum scores a 6.

The Balloon Museum was somewhere fun to go to for the first time. The range of displays and topics was very impressive and leads me to believe this museum is one of a kind. The second story view out the windows over the balloon fiesta park is gorgeous and would serve as a fantastic wedding reception hall (which is an available option). As there are areas of the museum currently in construction, it will only grow bigger and better with time. Because of a few games we played while there, we enjoyed our trip tremendously. We can see ourselves returning here again, especially to see the new areas, but we may not return for a few years.

Some Cool Bits of History that we Learned:

• Did you know that a sheep, a duck, and a rooster were the first test pilots for hot air balloons? The King of France was unsure that man would be safe in flight, so the safe return of these animals demonstrated that it was possible to breathe above the ground.

• The first human flight took place by the Montgolfier brothers on a balloon named Le Revellion. It flew to an altitude of 3,000 feet, covered six miles of ground, and lasted for twenty-five minutes. 

• The inventions of the hot-air balloon and the gas balloon were simultaneous. Just weeks after the flight of Le Revellion, the first hydrogen-filled balloon was launched. This launch was witnessed by 6,000 observers including Benjamin Franklin and lasted for two hours. 

• Balloons began to aid in weather observation (a funny story is told of a balloon descending too rapidly over the English Channel. The two people on board threw what they could overboard to make the balloon lighter. They even stripped to their underwear), entertainment (people began to jump from balloons and parachute to the ground, holding onto a wooden handle), and photograph the land for map-makers. Below are some of Nadar's fake balloon photos as well as our own versions. 

• Soon massive dirigibles, the precursors to our modern blimps, were filled with hydrogen or helium and could carry people in luxury across the Atlantic Ocean. After the Hindenburg accident in New Jersey in 1937, during which the airship caught fire, exploded, and killed 35 people, the public opinion of these ships was changed dramatically. This ended the era of commercial airships. 

• In WWII, Japanese children were enlisted to make balloons called Fugos to carry bombs to America. From this, the jet stream was discovered. Out of 10,000 balloons launched, as many as 1,000 Fugos successfully made it to North America, some of which started forest fires. Below is an image of a Zepplin, which were used for aerial attacks, being shot down in WWI.

• As part of preparing humans for space travel, balloons carried humans into the stratosphere for the first time, reaching heights of up to 113,000 feet. The capsule which made this journey is found in the balloon museum. 

• The world record highest jumps have been made out of balloons, first by Joe Kittinger in 1960 at the altitude of 102,800 feet and later in 2012 by Felix Baumgartner at a height of 128,200 feet! The Balloon took 2.5 hours to ascend. After 40 seconds of free fall, he broke the sound barrier with his body traveling at 843.6 mph. He reached the ground about 10 minutes after he stepped out of the balloon.

• Other displays teach about balloon attempts to cross the Pacific Ocean and also about flights around the world! This museum is also home to the Ballooning Commission International Hall of Fame.

Some of Our Story of the Day:

We were extremely excited to find out from the Balloon Museum Website that the entrance is free the first Friday of the month. We both were available on that day this month, so we were excited to come. When we first entered the museum, we found a paper called "Balloon Museum Search and Find" which had a scavenger hunt of 16 items to find around the museum! We were very excited to try to find them. We wandered around the different parts of the museum. We found some cool displays, but to be honest we were a little bored until we happened upon the "Balloon Museum Self-Guided Tour" which someone had left behind at one of the exhibits. We began to see the numbers at the various points across the museum. When we would reach these points, we would learn details of history like those listed above. That is when the museum really began to become fun for us. 

We soon learned that many of the items on the Search and Find correlated to the Tour hot spots. We learned facts and we got a little rush every time we found one of the pictures in the museum. By the end, there were only two pictures that we had failed to find. Orrin decided to try to find the image of elephants inside of a hot air balloon and I took the balloon-shaped ring with diamonds from the 1790s. We told one another to meet up at the balloon simulator game after we found our item. After doing one final sweep of the museum, I found my item and beat Orrin back to the game, and thus decided to use my victory minutes in trying the game a second time. My first round had a very rough landing in trees. I soon learned that various elevations have different winds which help you aim for the target marked on a field in the game. 

Orrin came back having announced that he found both (so my victory was only half won and because he found the rings before the elephants) and he showed me to elephant image. SPOILER ALERT: Evidently 22 elephants would fit inside the average hot air balloon envelope!

We returned to the simulator and played probably another half dozen rounds of the simulator game because no one else was in line for it. In this game you stand in a basket and are the pilot of a balloon. Three TV screens in front of you show you the simulated view of what it is like to fly the balloon. To ascend, you simply pull on the burner cord and to descend you can pull on the valve. My absolute favorite moment was this serene time in the game when I reached an altitude above that of the air current. I was just floating without gaining or losing elevation. I could just look at the beautiful scene all around me. It was such a peaceful moment. Orrin got the high score between the two of us, which is posted below. On the other hand, on one of his rounds he overshot the target to one side. In giving up, he pulled the release valve way too much. In fact, I think he let all the air out of the balloon and began to drop out of the sky. The simulator ranks you on your take off, your navigation skills, and on your landing. From that failed attempt, we learned that you can, in fact, score negative on the landing section. We are pretty sure that scoring negative means that you die. 

Here is Orrin's Top Score:

WE NOW OFFICIALLY DECLARE A CHALLENGE to anyone who may be reading this blog. We challenge you to get a higher top score on the simulator game than Orrin. If you achieve this, take a picture and send this to us. (Knowing Orrin's competetivie side, I am pretty sure that if this is the case, Orrin will be returning very shortly thereafter to try to score higher... this sounds like fun!!)

Total Cost:

Entrance on the first Friday of the Month and on certain times on Sunday: $0

Fees according to the website (https://www.cabq.gov/culturalservices/balloonmuseum/balloon-museum-hours-admission)

Normal Entrance Under 3: Free

Normal Entrance age 4-12: $1

Normal Adult Entrance Fee: $4 ($3 for NM residents with valid ID)

Other possible expenses: 

$0.51 for a pressed balloon penny and gift shop items

Our cost was $0! 

Bonus are some of the artwork found outside, especially the statue made for peace by elementary students in 1980 where you can create and hang your own paper cranes.

FYI: The Balloon Museum is hosting an event called the "Holiday Art, Crafts, & Book Fair" coming up with Free admission all day and free parking. It will be on Sunday, November 15, 2015 at 9am-5pm. Their flier says "get a jump on holiday buying with New Mexico products: books, food, jewelry, art, soaps, coffees, textiles, and much more!"