Balloons are a type of aircraft that is supported in air by buoyancy, which in effect, makes the airship lighter than air.

During the American Civil War, the Union Army utilized observation balloons that were tendered at around six hundred feet high. (TOS: "The Savage Curtain")

According to a diagram drawn by Robert H. Goddard, the height limit for a balloon (on Earth) was 20 miles. (Star Trek: Enterprise)

Types of balloons Edit

• Dirigible
• Hot-air balloon
• Weather balloon

Background Edit

The Union Army Balloon Corps operated and/or built eight hydrogen-gas balloons from 1861 – 1863.

• Small balloons: Enterprise, Eagle, Constitution, and Washington
• Large balloons: Union, Excelsior, Intrepid, and United States