Last night, 3rd July at 1AM GMT, David Hempleman Adams departed St John's, Canada in a gas-helium balloon in a bid to cross the northern Atlantic.

The 3425 km journey could take four days, depending on weather conditions, which will cause sleep deprivation and extreme fatigue in temperatures as low as minus 20 degrees.

Hempleman-Adams, the first man to fly to the North Pole in a balloon, will be attempting to set a new FAI (Fédération Aéronautique Internationale) world record in distance. He will be flying in an open wicker basket, no bigger than a coffee table, open to the elements.

As with all balloon flights, the pilot is at the mercy of the wind speed and direction. Upon World weather expert Luc Trullemans' advice, David felt confident enough to launch last night despite ground-level fog and rain.

Hempleman-Adams will be keeping in contact with the world using a satellite phone and his flight will be tracked and made far safer by Toshiba's new laptop.

The Portégé R500 is the world's lightest notebook¹ PC which weighs 779 grams², less than a bag of sugar. The sleek, robust notebook, which measures 19.5 mm in height, has the first indoor and outdoor 12.1" widescreen transflective backlit LED display, which is readable no matter what the light conditions are, and uses outdoor lighting conditions to increase visibility. It also has one of the world's longest battery lives, lasting up to 12.5 hours³, and is durable in case of any crash landings.

Before he left for the attempt, David commented, "I'm extremely nervous about this challenge. It is on the edge of technology and possibility. People have asked me, 'Why are you doing it?' and I say, 'I want to push myself as a pilot and push the equipment and technology to the extreme'. There is no such thing as an easy world record. I don't mind the cold temperatures but I'm wary of having to land in the water. All three of my daughters can swim further than me. In the event of ditching, I will have a life raft, and lots of sea sickness tablets."

The most basic form of flight, the Toshiba Transatlantic Challenge has a zero carbon footprint. Helium is an inert natural gas and sand is being used as ballast. To ascend, the sand is simply thrown from the basket.

David's path across the Atlantic can be viewed online via an interactive 'Flight Tracker' map -- updated every hour by the global control centre in Weybridge, Surrey, UK.

To view this and for further information, go to The Toshiba Challenge Official Website.

1 - as of May 2007, based on Toshiba survey
2 - single spindle configuration only with Solid State Drive
3 - 3-Cell battery = 7 hours / 6-cell battery = 12.5 hours, battery life measured following JEITA Standards