text: ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Two pilots in a helium-filled balloon on a record-setting journey across the Pacific Ocean entered the final leg of their trip Friday as they traveled along the California coast for an expected landing somewhere in Mexico. 
   
   In Monday, Jan. 26, 2015 photo provided by the Two Eagles Balloon Team, Troy Bradley of New Mexico and Leonid Tiukhtyaev of Russia set off from Saga, Japan, shortly before 6:30 a.m. JST Sunday, Jan. 25,... (Associated Press) 
   
   In this photo provided by the Two Eagles Balloon Team, Troy Bradley of New Mexico and Leonid Tiukhtyaev of Russia set off from Saga, Japan, shortly before 6:30 a.m. JST Sunday, Jan. 25, 2015, in their... (Associated Press) 
   
   In this photo provided by the Two Eagles Balloon Team, Troy Bradley of New Mexico and Leonid Tiukhtyaev of Russia set off from Saga, Japan, shortly before 6:30 a.m. JST Sunday, Jan. 25, 2015, in their... (Associated Press) 
   
   The pilots made history Thursday, first matching and then surpassing the 5,209-mile (8,383-kilometer) official world distance record for human flight in a gas balloon. Their next milestone is a 1978 duration record of 137 hours, 5 minutes and 50 seconds in the air in a traditional gas balloon — a mark that's considered the "holy grail" of ballooning achievements. The Two Eagles team expected to surpass that Friday morning. 
   
   They hope to land Saturday somewhere on the peninsula of Baja California, where volunteer chase crews were being organized to help with the landing. 
   
   The balloon team originally planned to cross into North America in Canada but shifted the plans because of changing weather. They are now catching a wind pattern that will take them south toward Mexico. 
   
   The balloon was about 400 miles northwest of San Francisco when it hit the distance mark. Everyone inside the control room had their smartphones pointed at the screen to document the moment. 
   
   "There it is! There it is!" shouted team members at the flight's mission control in Albuquerque as a giant screen showed the helium-filled Two Eagles balloon passing the record set by the Double Eagle V in 1981. 
   
   In a matter of hours, they hit another milestone in similar fashion when they reached the 5,260-mile mark. That's the distance — 1 percent more than the current record — they needed to meet in their quest to establish a record under international aviation rules. 
   
   The distance still has to be confirmed by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale, a process that can take weeks. 
   
   "We're not taking any time to celebrate," said Steve Shope, head of mission control. "We have a lot of work we have to do, and we're just taking this flight one hour at a time." 
   
   The Two Eagles pilots, Troy Bradley of Albuquerque and Leonid Tiukhtyaev of Russia, are aiming to set both distance and duration records with their flight from Saga, Japan, which began shortly before 6:30 a.m. Sunday Japan time. 
   
   The duration record was set in 1978 when Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson and Larry Newman made the first trans-Atlantic balloon flight. 
   
   The pilots had been aiming for Canada until a high-pressure ridge formed off the U.S. West Coast, forcing a sweeping right turn toward Mexico, where they now plan to land on Saturday. 
   
   The shifting weather patterns resulted in a flurry of decision-making that made for a hard night for the pilots and mission control. Shope said the pilots were in better spirits Thursday after getting some sleep, but he acknowledged that being on oxygen for that many days and the high altitude can take a physical toll. 
   
   Because weather conditions vary at different altitudes, the pilots traded speed and altitude throughout Thursday so the balloon would track to the south. 
   
   "It's a pretty sophisticated dance up there," said Ray Bair, a member of the mission control team. 
   
   The balloon is outfitted with an array of monitors and other instruments that are tracking its course and compiling data to be submitted to the record-keepers. With a massive, helium-filled envelope and a specially-designed carbon fiber-composite capsule, it was designed to stay aloft for up to 10 days, but the loss of gas and ballast has shortened that time by a couple of days. 
   
   The last task will be a safe landing. 
   
   Sand dunes along the peninsula were looking like the best option, Bair said. There are more favorable spots immediately along the Mexican coast, but then come the mountains. 
   
   ___ 
   
   Online: 
   
   http://pacificballoon.com/tracking/index.php 
   
   https://twitter.com/twoeaglesteam ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption No-one has crossed the Pacific Ocean in a gas balloon since 1981, as Alistair Leithead reports 
   
   Two pilots have surpassed the world distance and duration records with a flight across the Pacific Ocean in a helium balloon. 
   
   American Troy Bradley and Russian Leonid Tiukhtyaev left Japan on Sunday and had aimed to land in Canada or the US. 
   
   However, weather has forced them to change course towards Mexico where they are due to land sometime on Saturday. 
   
   To set records the team needed to beat the existing records by 1%. 
   
   For duration that meant staying aloft for about 138 hours and 45 minutes to beat the existing record set in 1981. 
   
   For distance that meant a journey of about 5,260 miles (8,465km) to beat the existing record of 5,209 miles set in 1981. 
   
   The hi-tech "Two Eagles" balloon is made of a strong Kevlar and carbon-fibre composite, but weighs only 220 pounds (100kg). 
   
   It is fitted with monitors and other instruments that track their course and compile data to be submitted to record-keepers. 
   
   The specially-designed capsule sits beneath a huge helium-filled envelope and is designed to stay aloft for up to 10 days. The pilots live in a closet-like space with a very low ceiling. 
   
   Image copyright AP Image caption The Two Eagles balloon is capable of staying aloft for up to 10 days 
   
   Image copyright Troy Bradley/Two Eagles Image caption The gas balloon took off from Saga, Japan, on 24 January 
   
   Image copyright Troy Bradley/Two Eagles Image caption The colour-coded cords help the pilots know how much ballast or expendable weight is used during the flight 
   
   Image copyright Troy Bradley/Two Eagles Image caption The balloon is set to land in Mexico after weather conditions changed the flight plan 
   
   On Thursday, the Two Eagles team tweeted: "The pilots have just surpassed the distance needed to set a new record. 5,261 miles or 8,467km." 
   
   "We're not taking any time to celebrate,'' said head of mission control Steve Shope. 
   
   "We have a lot of work we have to do, and we're just taking this flight one hour at a time." 
   
   On its website, the team says Two Eagles will not have officially broken the records until documentation is approved by the US National Aeronautic Association followed by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale - a process that could take several weeks or months. 
   
   In 1978, three pilots made the first trans-Atlantic balloon flight in 137 hours, 5 minutes and 50 seconds, setting the duration record in the process. 
   
   Americans Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson, and Larry Newman travelled on the Double Eagle II balloon from Presque Isle, Maine, to Miserey, France, about 60 miles (95km) northwest of Paris. 
   
   The Double Eagle II gondola is displayed at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum annex at Washington Dulles International Airport. 
   
   Two Eagles facts 
   
   The Two Eagles craft is a helium-filled gas balloon. "Roziere Balloons", which use both hot-air and gas, are the only ones that have circled the earth. 
   
   Depending on weather conditions, the balloon flies between 12,000 to 30,000 feet (9,100m) above the ground 
   
   The craft is about five feet (150cm) wide, seven feet long, and five feet high, weighing only 220 pounds (100kg). 
   
   The balloon started its journey carrying about 11,000 pounds of sand for ballast 
   
   In 1981, the Double Eagle V was the first gas balloon to successfully cross the Pacific Ocean and set the existing distance record. 
   
   Crew members Mr Abruzzo, Mr Newman, Ron Clark and Rocky Aoki made it from Nagashima, Japan, to Mendocino National Forest in California in 84 hours and 31 minutes. 
   
   The current team named its craft in honour of the existing record holders. 
   
   Two Eagles can stay in the air for a maximum of 10 days; it is now day five of the journey. 
   
   At the moment, it is not clear exactly where the Two Eagles balloon will land. 
   
   The team had been aiming for Canada but a ride of high-pressure ridge off the US West Coast forced the balloon into a sweeping right turn toward Mexico. 
   
   A network of balloon enthusiasts has been organised to act as chase crews, but correspondents say it remains unclear if the balloon will be able to land in a place where a ground crew can help them. ||||| ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Two balloonists crossing over the Pacific Ocean from Japan surpassed a distance record on Thursday for gas-filled balloon travel and are heading toward a landing in Mexico's Baja California in two days, officials said. 
   
   Balloon Pilots Troy Bradley, an American, and Leonid Tiukhtyaev, a Russian, who are collectively dubbed "Two Eagles" had traveled more than 5,260 miles (8,465 km) by Thursday afternoon, according to a tracking website set up for their journey. 
   
   They have surpassed the distance record of 5,209 miles (8,383 km) for gas balloons set on the only previous manned trans-Pacific flight, in 1981. The pilots are more than 250 miles (400 km) west-northwest of San Francisco, California. 
   
   When they eclipsed the distance record, a round of applause broke out in the mission control room at the Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum in New Mexico and people there posed for pictures with the mile counter, said Art Lloyd Jr, a mission support control worker at the site. 
   
   "We're really excited and just now concentrating on getting them to a nice safe landing," Lloyd said. 
   
   Meanwhile, the pilots who took off on Saturday from Japan are pursuing a flight duration record of 137 hours aloft set in 1978 by a team crossing the Atlantic. That is expected to happen on Friday morning, Lloyd said. 
   
   The pilots are on track to land in Baja California, in Mexico, on Saturday, said officials with the Balloon Museum. 
   
   The balloon, which relies solely on an enclosed chamber of helium gas for lift, is different from hot air balloons and so-called Roziere balloons, which rely on both hot air and lighter-than-air gas. Roziere balloons have by far the greatest range of the three types. 
   
   Lloyd said the cramped conditions of the capsule has not affected the pilots, who have subsisted on a diet that includes fresh fruit, freeze-dried hikers' meals, beef jerky and the occasional hot meal from a small stove. They are equipped with cold weather gear including sleeping bags and a heater. 
   
   They had earlier taken a track that would have brought them to southwestern Canada, but because of weather changes, they opted for the path toward Mexico, officials said. 
   
   Their records must be officially certified by the National Aeronautic Association and the Federation Aeronautique Internationale, which can take months, a mission spokeswoman said. 
   
   (Reporting by Joseph J. Kolb; Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by Sandra Maler)
target: – Two balloonists who took off from Japan early on Sunday have sailed past the world distance record and are still in the sky. American Troy Bradley and Russian Leonid Tiukhtyaev— the "Two Eagles"—passed the old record of 5,261 miles yesterday and are due to pass the balloon duration record of 137 hours aloft, set during the first trans-Atlantic balloon flight in 1978, some time today, reports the BBC. "We're not taking any time to celebrate,'' the head of mission control says. "We have a lot of work we have to do, and we're just taking this flight one hour at a time." A worker at mission control, which is based in a balloon museum in Albuquerque, tells Reuters that the balloonists are doing fine despite cramped conditions in the capsule, where they are equipped with cold-weather gear and are living on freeze-dried hikers' meals. The men had originally planned to land in Canada, but they changed course because of weather conditions and are due to land in Baja California, Mexico, on Saturday. Chase crews are being organized to help the landing, which mission control says will probably be among sand dunes on the peninsula, the AP reports.