Balloons in Space!

While researching where exactly this shirt came from I found out a few things. Since the year 2000, NASA has been working on "space balloons," or balloons that are used to carry instruments and cameras through space and close to various surfaces. I also found out that in 2001 two Englishmen, Andy Elson and Colin Prescot, attempted to set the world altitude record in a manned balloon. They sat in an open gondola that had an emergency parachute to save them in case something went array. They could not launch because of weather, then they tried again in 2003 and canceled for the same reason as before. The record is still held by Americans
Malcolm D. Ross and Victor E. Prather. So this shirt would have to have been some kind of way to raise money for such causes as riding a balloon up into the atmosphere. This shirt was owned by someone who truly believed in this cause and wanted to prove to the world that there is air in space and an universal gravitational pull that will keep the balloon inflated and the rider in the basket. I sport this shirt to remind people of these pioneers and their endless stubborn pursuit to debunk the facts. Who needs rockets when you're full of hot air.

In case you wanted to see what it would be like in ride up into the atmosphere on a balloon go here. http://balloons.space.edu/habp/project_4/airphotos.html