Abstract
NEWS has been received through Science Service, Washington, D.C., that arrangements for a new observation balloon ascent into the stratosphere are well advanced. This new attempt is being organised jointly by the National Geographic Society and the U.S. Army Air Corps. The pilot will be Major W. E. Kepner, who holds a long and distinguished record as aeroplane pilot and racing balloonist, whilst the observer will be Capt. A. W. Stevens, who is also an expert in long-range photography. A strong motive for the new flight is the breaking of the altitude record of 50 m.m. (62,000 ft.) held at present by Stratostat USSR made last year and the higher-claimed Russian flight of January this year, which ended disastrously. Generally, however, from the nature of the equipment included, which is said to weigh a ton, the aims of the projected flight are to investigate cosmic radiation with particular reference to the Steinke bursts. The instruments include spectrographs, air samplers and special cameras the records of which, if the weather is clear, will give heights by triangulation, wind direction and velocity. Barometers will be checked for height, and the influence of height on radio-transmission will be studied. The lessons of the past have been learnt. To safeguard the crew, a pneumatically controlled hydrogen release valve can be operated from the gondola, and in case of necessity the gondola can be brought to the ground by parachute. The crew have personal parachutes and exit portholes. The balloon itself is three times as large as any previously built. It will contain 3 million cubic feet of hydrogen which will fill it to one tenth of its capacity on the ground. The flight is intended to be of twelve hour's duration, the take off being from a hollow in Black Hills near Rapid City, S.D., when the wind conditions are from the north-west.
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A New American Ascent into the Stratosphere. Nature 134, 132–133 (1934). https://doi.org/10.1038/134132d0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/134132d0
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