Floating house inspired by 'Up'

National Geographic have created a real-life version of the animated film Up — launching a house thousands of metres into the air using balloons.

A team of scientists, engineers, volunteers and two world-class balloon pilots worked together over the weekend to send the house, measuring 4.8m x 4.8m x 5.5m, into the sky.

Using 300 helium-filled weather balloons, the lightweight building reached an altitude of more than 3000m and remained in the air for about an hour.

The experiment is to feature in an upcoming show called How Hard Can it Be? on the National Geographic Channel.