The Weight of a Balloon

We burned more fuel trying to rise, but the winds were so strong they kept pushing us down. The top of the balloon was caught by the fast current and took off like a rocket. We feared the balloon would be torn into and the heavy capsule would hurtle thousands of feet down to the sea. But at the last moment, the capsule shot through the glass ceiling and the balloon righted itself. Seven hours later, it was time to lose the first empty fuel tank. It seemed safer to drop down out of the jet stream to do this. And this is pretty crazy. Look how heavy these fuel tanks are. So, it says, we cut off the burners and went in