07/12/2026
On this day, July 11th, almost 130 years ago the first ever Arctic balloon expedition took lift off.
Proposed by Swedish engineer and aeronaut, Salomon A. Andrée believed he could do what others had tried and failed: explore the North Pole. He believed that using a balloon would be more advantageous than the ships that kept getting stuck in the ice.
In the summer of 1897, Andrée launched the balloon “Örnen” (eagle in Swedish) from the Danes Islands with his companions, physics student and photographer Nils Strindberg, and the engineer Knut Frænkel.
Unfortunately this expedition was doomed and only after 3 days from launching, the team crashed onto the ice. They traveled on the ice for 2 months before their deaths and were not recovered until 33 years later by the Norwegian Bratvaag expedition (1930).
Their tale, while tragic, has been an inspiration for many and just last month Andrée's dream was realized fully in the successful “2026 Polar Expedition Following Salmon Andrée’s Path.” You can learn more about this new Polar Expedition here at the Balloon Museum Blog page, and more on Andrée’s own story at the Museum in the exhibit: “Arctic Air: The Bold Flight of S. A. Andrée.”
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Image caption:
The Örnen (Eagle): S.A. Andrée designed the balloon system and had it built in Henri Lachambre’s Paris workshop. The balloon, Örnen (Eagle), was made of varnished Chinese silk, arranged in two or three layers, depending on location on the envelope. The envelope was also reinforced around the valves. The height of the inflated envelope was 26.67 meters (87.5 feet) from crown to the load ring. The volume of the balloon was 4,500 cubic meters (160,000 cubic feet) in 1896 and was increased to 4,815 cubic meters (approximately 170,000 cubic feet) for the 1897 flight. It had a lifting force of 5,296 kg (11,675 pounds). As shown above, the net was made of 384 interwoven h**p cords. Near the bottom, the number of cords is stepped down and terminated with 48 suspending cords for joining it to the load ring.