New research examines PFAS contamination at Holloman Lake in New Mexico https://phys.org/news/2025-06-pfas-contamination-holloman-lake-mexico.html
A team of researchers from The University of New Mexico's Museum of Southwestern Biology (MSB) has shared new research on the contamination at Holloman Lake in southern New Mexico. The team began studying PFAS contamination of wildlife at Holloman Lake in 2021.
"THE BALLOON PILOTS WHO WENT BOLDLY WHERE ONLY ANIMALS HAD GONE BEFORE"
Project Manhigh took pilots to the edge of space.
An outstanding article By David W. Temple featured in History Net the website of Aviation History Magazine
https://www.historynet.com/project-manhigh/
#Balloon #Research #History #Manhigh #Winzen #Simons #Kittinger #McClure #Stapp #Holloman #Stratosphere
Rare image of a launch test at Holloman AFB in 1993 of the Off-board Balloon Jammer System (OBJS) a prototype device developed in the early 1990s decade by the Southwest Research Institute.
The system was mounted inside a modified F-111 external fuel tank to be dropped in the target area and allow surveillance equipment to remain above the battlefield for much longer, floating under its own balloon.
Full details: https://stratocat.com.ar/fichas-e/1993/HMN-19931000.htm
I'm really enjoying reading my latest addition to my balloon collection: "Me and Balloons" written by Arthur A. Giannetti, a true legend in the field of the USAF balloon program.
The book - self-published by #Giannetti in 2015 - is packed with delightful anecdotes from the old days of scientific ballooning and extensive references to little-known programs outside the military sphere.
My eternal gratitude to Don Day who made access to this piece of history possible.
Now on a bid at Heritage Auction, there are two very rare vintage filming miniatures of the "Skylight" High-Altitude #Balloon #Gondola from the 1956 movie "On the Threshold of Space".
One miniature is 20" tall and the other 27".
The #movie was filmed on location at #Holloman AFB and provides a historical depiction of #USAF balloon-based tests in the late 50's. So far is the only movie ever filmed in which #stratospheric balloons are a central part of the plot.
#STRATCOM (STRATospheric COMposition) was a long-term, multi-purpose program for integrated, correlated measurements of #stratospheric parameters related to composition, #thermodynamics, and radiative balance, primarily by the use of balloon-borne instruments.
The program was run between 1968 and 1977.
Below these lines, we can see the preparation, #balloon inflation, and #payload release of STRATCOM VIa. That mission was carried out at #Holloman AFB (NM) on September 23, 1975.
Dragofix
Daniele Neander Mancini
asfweb
StratoCat
FreddyB Aviation Photography