A hot air balloon managed to reach The North Pole for the first time in the history of Arctic exploration on Monday. The `Holy Russia` (Svyataya Rus) crew named their expedition "A Flight to the Summit of the Globe". It took the men 38 days to cover 980 km starting from Cape Arktichesky in the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago. The crew was also given unprecedented aviation support while implementing the project. The crew also did research that will help update current scientific information on the environment, the Earth's climate and man's vital activity in extreme conditions. The project was timed to coincide with VE-Day's 60th anniversary and Lomonosov Moscow State University's 250th anniversary. Preparation for the expedition took more than eighteen months, with particular emphasis on flight safety. The balloon's crew is now undergoing post-expedition rehabilitation.
