On May 4th 1961, the Stratolab V balloon flight ended in tragedy. Piloted by Cdr Malcolm Ross and Lt. Victor Prather, the mission departed from the deck of the USS Antietam in the Gulf of Mexico. The balloon attained a world-record altitude of 113,739 feet, which still remains.
During recovery Prather fell from the sling of the rescue helicopter, his pressure suit with face plate open filled with water, and he drowned before he could be reached.
Launch of a Boundary Layer Pressurized Balloon from #Ushuaia Airport in February 2000.
It was one of the seven launched as part of the BOA (Ballons sur l'Océan Austral) campaign carried out between #CNES, LMD, and University of Buenos Aires - CIMA.
The #balloons flew at an almost constant altitude of 1350 meters.
The goal was to obtain along their trajectories measurements of pressure, temperature, water vapor, and wind velocity.
Charles B. Moore co-pilot of the StratoLab IV mission gazing at the sky before being launched onboard the sealed capsule to 79.000 ft.
In the background can be seen the Schmidt telescope brought by the John Hopkins University which was mounted on the top side of the gondola.
During the flight performed from the Stratobowl on November 28 1959, were obtained the first observations of water vapor on the atmosphere of Venus.
#StratoLab #BalloonImageOfTheDay #Balloon #Stratobowl #ONR #Skyhook
Launch of #CREPE experiment from Fleming Field (MN) on September 4, 1970.
The experiment consisted of 240 square feet of detectors housed in a 20 by 12-foot package. The detectors (plastic track, nuclear emulsion, & fast film Cernekov) were designed to record the intensity & direction of trans-iron primary cosmic rays in the stratosphere.
The balloon drifted for more than 347 hours before landing 20 miles west of Regina, Canada.
#BalloonImageOfTheDay
#Cosmicrays #Research #Science #History
The KESTREL mission balloon seen ascending majestically above Ramona County Airport (CA) on 11/13/86.
KESTREL was a program to develop technology capable of addressing issues associated with precise tracking of ballistic missiles. It was carried out by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory with support from the Air Force Geophysics Laboratory.
Image by Jan Kocian.
#BalloonImageOfTheDay
#Balloon #Kestrel #Ramona
#AFGL #Livermore #LLNL
Preparations for the launch of a #stratospheric #balloon, moments before the dawn near #Bristol, England in the early 1950s.
The #hydrogen filling tube is visible at the bottom, together with the nuclear emulsion stack in a bamboo cage. The #emulsions were sent aloft to register traces of rare particles created by collisions of cosmic rays with particles in the high atmosphere.
All eyes look at rubber balloons launched to gauge wind speed
(Source: Bristol University)
On February 2nd, 1966, Nick #Piantanida an NJ truck driver and parachutist made his 2nd attempt at a stratospheric jump as part of project #STRATOJUMP.
After a successful #balloon launch from Sioux Falls (SD), the pilot reached the bailout altitude of 125.000 ft, but when he prepared to jump, the oxygen hose connection failed to detach. Without any tool to resolve the issue, he was forced to land on its #gondola in a cornfield in Iowa.
Images belong to #LIFE collection
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
On April 22, 1959 astronomer Audouin #Dollfus made from Villacoublay, France an ascent to 43000 ft in a sealed cabin, using a cluster of 105 sounding balloons.
The lightweight #gondola, a 230-pound sphere of thin metal about six feet in diameter, was sealed, pressurized, and air-conditioned.
During the flight, the #balloon system stabilized at an altitude of about 43,000 feet. He studied the Moon, #Venus & other planets with a #telescope coupled to a spectrophotometer.
Launch from Palestine (TX) of the #BIRAP Infrared Telescope developed at the University of #Groningen, Netherlands. Circa 1978.
BIRAP used a 60 cm. Cassegrain-type telescope mounted on a stabilized platform developed by Ball Brothers.
At the time, BIRAP's scientists had the tradition of nicknaming every #balloon flight to the -at that time- secretary of the Department of Space Research.
Hence, some flights carried in the gondola tubing names such as GRETHA 5 or LAURA 1
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