On September 15, 1804, Joseph Gay-Lussac reached what he believed was 23,000 feet. For much of the 19th century, as late as Glaisher and Coxwell's famous ascent, balloonists overestimated altitudes and he probably did not reach this level, but he certainly flew higher than Mont Blanc, 15,770 feet.
Gay-Lussac's measurements and observations represent the start of scientific ballooning.
As far as history records, the highest altitudes have been achieved in just three ways; by climbers, balloonists and rocket-ship pilots. Mont Blanc was climbed in 1786. After Gay-Lussac's flight bettered this flight, balloons were the ultimate way to journey towards heaven for the next 150 years. The outright altitude record was only taken from balloons by the Bell X-2 in 1956. (Chuck Yaeger broke the sound barrier in the Bell X-1)
Charles Green's The 'Royal Vauxhall' "Great Nassau Balloon," shown here landing in South East England in 1835(later known as the 'Nasau' balloon) was the largest balloon of its time, standing 80 feet (244 m) high with a capacity of 70,000 cubic feet. It was powered by coal-gas and equipped with a huge winch-controlled guide rope to act as a height regulator - the first time such a device had been used.
Royal Vauxhall baloon also known as Great Nassau Baloon
The English aeronaut Charles Green (1785-1870) used this balloon for his most famous ascent on 7 November 1836, when he flew from London to Nasau in Germany. It was on this voyage, along with pasengers Robert Holland MP and Thomas Monck Mason, that Green succesfully completed the world's longest flight, covering an estimated 480 miles (770 km) in 18 hours. . The next year, Green, the greatest balloonist of this period of time, flew it an extraordinary 380 miles from London to Nassau, Germany.
Nott regards the flight to Nassau as the first record-breaking balloon flight.
The baloon was used also for parachute researching. Robert Cocking was a profesional watercolourist and amateur scientist who spent many years developing an improved design for a parachute after witnesing Garnerin's parachute descent in 1802. On 24 July 1837, Cocking arranged a trial of his invention from the Vauxhall Gardens in London. His parachute, which took the form of an inverted cone connected by three hoops, was attached to Charles Green's 'Royal Vauxhall' balloon, piloted by Green and Edward Spencer. When the balloon reached 5000 feet (1524m) Cocking released his parachute. Tragically, it failed due to a mechanical disfinction and Cocking died shortly after hitting the ground.
Professor Piccard's flight to 51,770 feet in 1931 was second in importance only to the Montgolfiers'. Professor Piccard designed a gondola sphere which weighed 300 pounds, was 82" in diameter gondola, and built to keep two people alive for up to 10 hours above 40,000 feet. The apparatus designed to release pure oxygen into the cabin while scrubbing and recirculating cabin air by filtering it through alkalai was fashioned after the German invention. Professor Piccard also solved the problem of the hydrogen leaking while expanding during ascent. He surmised an envelope five times larger would allow the expanding gases to remain inside the envelope as it reached the stratosphere. This would also allow the two aeronauts to return safely to earth as the gas cooled at night. He then built a 500,000 cubic foot hydrogen filled envelope. This envelope allowed the lifting gas to remain inside the balloon envelope as it expanded, giving the balloon enough boyancy to return safely to Earth as the gas cooled at night.
Professor Piccard
On May 27, 1931 Swiss Professor Auguste Piccard and Paul Kipfer flew their pressurized capsule and 494,400 cubic foot envelope from Ausburg, Germany and reached a world record altitude of 51,783 feet (15,787 meters). Unfortunately, the balloon landed on a glacier where it was left for nearly a year. this project was funded by the FNRS (Funds National Research Scientific) and King of Belgium who was the foundation's patron. In 1932, Professor Auguste Piccard and Max Cosyns reached 53,152 (16,200 meters) feet into the stratosphere.
Professor Piccard's Baloon gondola
Now the race for space began to heat up as each country had a viable vehicle to travel to the stars. Yes, it was still with risk but the success ratio was now much higher with the invention of the enclosed gondola. This, too, was a huge act of intellectual courage. Piccard invented a new type of balloon that was also the world's first pressurized aircraft. Many thought the flight was impossible but Piccard made his plans.
Stratospheric baloon
The Soviet Union invested the most time and energy to the discovery of the stratosphere. Since the idea first arose in 1932 by Vladimir Chizhevsky, many gas balloon attempts and actual flights continued until 1940, most under the leadership ofGeorgy (Yegor/George) Alekseyevich Prokofiev. On September 24, 1933, the Soviet Union, inspired by Professor Piccard's success and under the command of , widely publicized the maiden flight of USSR-1 which ended in failure. First, the bottom of the envelope twined itself with ropespics/sbussr1.jpg (17889 bytes) during inflation. A volunteer named Fyodor Tereschenko untied the knots, and the balloon was cleared to launch. However, it failed to lift off due to moisture build up in the foggy weather.
On September 30, 1933, the Soviet Union launched USSR-1 once again under the command of Georgy Prokofiev, Konstantin Godunov, and co-pilot/radio operator Ernst Birnbaum. This was the largest balloon built to date at 860,000 cubic feet and the three man crew reached an unofficial record 62,336 feet (19,000 meters). Later that same day, Osoaviakhim-1 was being prepared to launch. However, strong ground winds at the time of launch cancelled the second balloon launch which was rescheduled for January that next year.
On November 20, 1933, the U.S. team of Lt. Commander G.W. Settle (US Navy) and Major Chester L. Fordny (US Marine Corp.) flew the Century of Progress (a 60,000 cubic foot hydrogen-filled balloon built by the Goodyear Company) to an altitude of 61,237 feet. Rumor was that Josef Stalin, apparently irked by the Settle-Fordny achievement, allegedly would order three Soviet balloonists into the air and to their deaths in an attempt to break the Americanheld record.
And on January 30, 1934 a Soviet Union three man team launched their balloon Osoaviakhim-1 and attained an altitude of 72,200 feet (22,006 meters), beating all high altitude records. Unfortunately, the balloon lost its bouyancy during the descent, plunged into an uncontrolled fall, and disintegrated in the lower atmosphere. The three crew members, probably incapacitated by high g-forces produced by the rapidly rotating gondola, failed to parachute to safety and were killed when the capsule impacted the earth.
Russian stratosphric baloon on postage stamp
At that time On November 20, 1933 Lt. Commander G.W. Settle (U.S. Navy) and Major Chester L. Fordny (U.S. Marine Corp.) flew the Century of Progress to an altitude of 61,237 feet (18,665 meters). Headed once again by Dr. Jean Piccard, it carried two instruments to measure how gas conducted cosmic rays, a cosmic ray telescope, a polariscope to study the polarization of light at high altitudes, fruit flies to study genetic mutations for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and an infrared camera to study the ozone layer. It was understood by many that Commander Settle was highly motivated to bring the world altitude record back to U.S. soil and pushed the limits in order to achieve this goal. Unfortunately, ballast was deployed and most of the scientific instruments ended into the Delaware river in order to control the rate of descent. The Century of Progress was once again returned to the Piccards who flew it for its third and final voyage to the stars.
On October 23, 1934, a crowd of 45,000 watched the Century of Progress take it's third voyage out of Deerborn,pics/sbcent.jpg (60794 bytes) Michigan to the stratosphere with husband/wife team of Dr. Jean Piccard and Dr. Jeannette Piccard. Jeannette who was the first licensed female NAA (National Aeronautics Association) balloon pilot in the U.S. Since Jean Piccard was still without his pilot's certificate, Jeannette received training from Ed Hill and became the first woman to pilot to the stratosphere.Together they reached a height of 57,579 feet (17,550 meters). After noticing that the oxygen failed to vaporize on descent after the cabin doors were opened from previous flights, Dr. Jean Piccard created the liquid oxygen converter. This oxygen system was used on WWII aircraft. He also developed a frost-free window for the flight which was later used by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force in the B-24 Liberator or B-26 Marauder. Jean also discovered a use for blasting caps and TNT for releasing the balloon at launch and for remote release of external ballast from inside the sealed cabin. This was the first use of pyrotechnics for remote-controlled actuating devices in aircraft, an unpopular however revolutionary idea at the time. The instruments lost in the Delaware were replaced so that scientific studies could be conducted including studies on the use of atomic physics in conjunction with cosmic rays by Dr. Robert Millikan.
His flight opened the way for challenge of the famous Explorer, Stratolab , some of the stepping stones on the way to space.
Keep The Passion and God Bless You !!!
Gay-Lussac's measurements and observations represent the start of scientific ballooning.
Joseph Gay-Lussac
Early flight , The baloon of Joseph Gay-Lussac
Charles Green's The 'Royal Vauxhall' "Great Nassau Balloon," shown here landing in South East England in 1835(later known as the 'Nasau' balloon) was the largest balloon of its time, standing 80 feet (244 m) high with a capacity of 70,000 cubic feet. It was powered by coal-gas and equipped with a huge winch-controlled guide rope to act as a height regulator - the first time such a device had been used.
Royal Vauxhall baloon also known as Great Nassau Baloon
The English aeronaut Charles Green (1785-1870) used this balloon for his most famous ascent on 7 November 1836, when he flew from London to Nasau in Germany. It was on this voyage, along with pasengers Robert Holland MP and Thomas Monck Mason, that Green succesfully completed the world's longest flight, covering an estimated 480 miles (770 km) in 18 hours. . The next year, Green, the greatest balloonist of this period of time, flew it an extraordinary 380 miles from London to Nassau, Germany.
Nott regards the flight to Nassau as the first record-breaking balloon flight.
Charles Green's Royal Vauxhall baloon ( Great Nassau Balloon) in flight
The baloon was used also for parachute researching. Robert Cocking was a profesional watercolourist and amateur scientist who spent many years developing an improved design for a parachute after witnesing Garnerin's parachute descent in 1802. On 24 July 1837, Cocking arranged a trial of his invention from the Vauxhall Gardens in London. His parachute, which took the form of an inverted cone connected by three hoops, was attached to Charles Green's 'Royal Vauxhall' balloon, piloted by Green and Edward Spencer. When the balloon reached 5000 feet (1524m) Cocking released his parachute. Tragically, it failed due to a mechanical disfinction and Cocking died shortly after hitting the ground.
Professor Piccard
On May 27, 1931 Swiss Professor Auguste Piccard and Paul Kipfer flew their pressurized capsule and 494,400 cubic foot envelope from Ausburg, Germany and reached a world record altitude of 51,783 feet (15,787 meters). Unfortunately, the balloon landed on a glacier where it was left for nearly a year. this project was funded by the FNRS (Funds National Research Scientific) and King of Belgium who was the foundation's patron. In 1932, Professor Auguste Piccard and Max Cosyns reached 53,152 (16,200 meters) feet into the stratosphere.
Professor Piccard's Baloon gondola
Now the race for space began to heat up as each country had a viable vehicle to travel to the stars. Yes, it was still with risk but the success ratio was now much higher with the invention of the enclosed gondola. This, too, was a huge act of intellectual courage. Piccard invented a new type of balloon that was also the world's first pressurized aircraft. Many thought the flight was impossible but Piccard made his plans.
Stratospheric baloon
The Soviet Union invested the most time and energy to the discovery of the stratosphere. Since the idea first arose in 1932 by Vladimir Chizhevsky, many gas balloon attempts and actual flights continued until 1940, most under the leadership ofGeorgy (Yegor/George) Alekseyevich Prokofiev. On September 24, 1933, the Soviet Union, inspired by Professor Piccard's success and under the command of , widely publicized the maiden flight of USSR-1 which ended in failure. First, the bottom of the envelope twined itself with ropespics/sbussr1.jpg (17889 bytes) during inflation. A volunteer named Fyodor Tereschenko untied the knots, and the balloon was cleared to launch. However, it failed to lift off due to moisture build up in the foggy weather.
On September 30, 1933, the Soviet Union launched USSR-1 once again under the command of Georgy Prokofiev, Konstantin Godunov, and co-pilot/radio operator Ernst Birnbaum. This was the largest balloon built to date at 860,000 cubic feet and the three man crew reached an unofficial record 62,336 feet (19,000 meters). Later that same day, Osoaviakhim-1 was being prepared to launch. However, strong ground winds at the time of launch cancelled the second balloon launch which was rescheduled for January that next year.
On November 20, 1933, the U.S. team of Lt. Commander G.W. Settle (US Navy) and Major Chester L. Fordny (US Marine Corp.) flew the Century of Progress (a 60,000 cubic foot hydrogen-filled balloon built by the Goodyear Company) to an altitude of 61,237 feet. Rumor was that Josef Stalin, apparently irked by the Settle-Fordny achievement, allegedly would order three Soviet balloonists into the air and to their deaths in an attempt to break the Americanheld record.
And on January 30, 1934 a Soviet Union three man team launched their balloon Osoaviakhim-1 and attained an altitude of 72,200 feet (22,006 meters), beating all high altitude records. Unfortunately, the balloon lost its bouyancy during the descent, plunged into an uncontrolled fall, and disintegrated in the lower atmosphere. The three crew members, probably incapacitated by high g-forces produced by the rapidly rotating gondola, failed to parachute to safety and were killed when the capsule impacted the earth.
Russian stratosphric baloon on postage stamp
At that time On November 20, 1933 Lt. Commander G.W. Settle (U.S. Navy) and Major Chester L. Fordny (U.S. Marine Corp.) flew the Century of Progress to an altitude of 61,237 feet (18,665 meters). Headed once again by Dr. Jean Piccard, it carried two instruments to measure how gas conducted cosmic rays, a cosmic ray telescope, a polariscope to study the polarization of light at high altitudes, fruit flies to study genetic mutations for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and an infrared camera to study the ozone layer. It was understood by many that Commander Settle was highly motivated to bring the world altitude record back to U.S. soil and pushed the limits in order to achieve this goal. Unfortunately, ballast was deployed and most of the scientific instruments ended into the Delaware river in order to control the rate of descent. The Century of Progress was once again returned to the Piccards who flew it for its third and final voyage to the stars.
On October 23, 1934, a crowd of 45,000 watched the Century of Progress take it's third voyage out of Deerborn,pics/sbcent.jpg (60794 bytes) Michigan to the stratosphere with husband/wife team of Dr. Jean Piccard and Dr. Jeannette Piccard. Jeannette who was the first licensed female NAA (National Aeronautics Association) balloon pilot in the U.S. Since Jean Piccard was still without his pilot's certificate, Jeannette received training from Ed Hill and became the first woman to pilot to the stratosphere.Together they reached a height of 57,579 feet (17,550 meters). After noticing that the oxygen failed to vaporize on descent after the cabin doors were opened from previous flights, Dr. Jean Piccard created the liquid oxygen converter. This oxygen system was used on WWII aircraft. He also developed a frost-free window for the flight which was later used by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force in the B-24 Liberator or B-26 Marauder. Jean also discovered a use for blasting caps and TNT for releasing the balloon at launch and for remote release of external ballast from inside the sealed cabin. This was the first use of pyrotechnics for remote-controlled actuating devices in aircraft, an unpopular however revolutionary idea at the time. The instruments lost in the Delaware were replaced so that scientific studies could be conducted including studies on the use of atomic physics in conjunction with cosmic rays by Dr. Robert Millikan.
His flight opened the way for challenge of the famous Explorer, Stratolab , some of the stepping stones on the way to space.
Keep The Passion and God Bless You !!!
