Scientific Ballooning • Brief History • Electrodynamics Over Thunderstorms • Balloon Types • How a Balloon Works Lift (Forces) USS Akron in Flight, November 1931

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Scientific Ballooning • Brief History • Electrodynamics Over Thunderstorms • Balloon Types • How a Balloon Works Lift (Forces) USS Akron in Flight, November 1931 Scientific Ballooning • Brief history • Electrodynamics over thunderstorms • Balloon types • How a balloon works Lift (forces) USS Akron in flight, November 1931 Hindenburg Disaster: Graf https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= Zeppelin 8V5KXgFLia4 Regular transatlantic service in 1930s January 2005 MINIS Flight From SANAE Antarctica More pictures fromMINIS: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~rmillan/ photogallery/minis.2005.sanae.html History First hot air balloon – French brothers – 500ft. for about 5 miles in 1783 War time usage Many ‘Firsts’ – 1st to cross English Channel - 1785 – 1st to cross Atlantic – Double Eagle II - 1978 – and Pacific – Double Eagle V - 1981 – 1st non-stop around the world – Bertrand Piccard from Switzerland and Brian Jones from Great Britain in 1999 Military use of balloons: http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Lighter_than_air/military_balloons_in_Europe/LTA4.htm Other Records • 2014 -- World's Highest Skydive! Google executive Alan Eustace set a new mark Friday when he fell from an altitude of more than 135,000 feet, plummeting in a free- fall for about 5 minutes before deploying his parachute. The jump broke the record of 127,852 feet that Felix Baumgartner set in 2012 • Link http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/10/25/358820835/-near-space-dive- sets-new-skydive-record-25-miles-above-earth • 2012 -- Felix Baumgartner, was highest skydive ever http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6U6WDpWtbTY From 127,700 ft altitude • 1961 -- previous Altitude Record Set: Commander Malcolm Ross and Lieutenant Commander Victor A. Prather of the U.S. Navy ascend to 113,739.9 feet in 'Lee Lewis Memorial,' a polyethylene balloon. They land in the Gulf of Mexico where, with his pressure suit filling with water, and unable to stay afloat, Prather drowns. more• 2005 -- Hot Air High Altitude Record: On November 26, 2005, Vijaypat Singhania set the world altitude record for highest hot air balloon flight, reaching 21,290 m (69,850 ft). He launched from downtown Bombay, India and landed 240 km (150 mi) south in Panchale • 1995 -- First Solo Transpacific Balloon Flight: February 14- 17, Steve Fossett, another around-the-world contender with his Solo Challenger project, launches from Seoul, Korea and flies 4 long days to Mendham, Saskatchawan • 2002 -- First Solo Round the World in a Hot Air Balloon: Steve Fosset, Started in Northam, Western Australia to Queensland, Australia. 13 days 12 hours 5 minutes (14 days 19 hours 50 minutes to landing), 20,482.26 statute miles (32,963 kilometers). This was Fossett’s 6th attempt at an around the world flight. • Want More? See http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/balloon/science/history.html Priest missing on balloon flight April 2008 A Roman Catholic prest who used 1,000 helium balloons to try to break a flying record has gone missing off the southern coast of Brazil. Father Adelir de Carli lifted off from the port city of Paranagua on Sunday, equipped with a parachute, thermal suit, satellite phone and a GPS device. A sea and air rescue operation is under way after he lost contact with port authority officials late on Sunday. (happened in 2008) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/7360461.stm Or http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7360416.stm Balloon types • zero pressure, super pressure, weather, blimp, tethered, cylinder, hot air, party Tethered Aerostat He (blimp) NASA air bladder semi-trailer Hot Air Balloons • Montgolfier - rigid tissue paper over frame • Modern types are people numerous – nylon, etc • burners up to 15,000BTU or more ZeroPressure Balloons • Highest and lightest • Open at the bottom • no pressure difference across flanks Sprite Balloon Test flight May 2002 Bob, Jeremy Michael Tillamook, OR Zero Pressure Balloon When balloon gets to float altitude He has fully expanded and starts venting. Balloon stays at that Duct to vent Helium altitude no pressure difference across bottom and sides of balloon payload (only around the very top) Super Pressure Balloon • Longest Duration • Sealed Bag • Heavier (double layered – will not pop like rubber balloon) Spherical Superpressure balloon flights 1992/3 Launched from New Zealand Record flights longest > 4 months http://www.nsbf.nasa.gov/mission-txt.html Forces on a Balloon • Gravity (on the balloon and the gas) • Pressure over the whole surface Buoyancy – You get ‘lift’ if the weight of helium+balloon is less than the weight of the air displaced So, how much does air weigh? First lets talk about Density and pressure • Density is the technical term for how much mass is in a volume. • The more mass in a given volume, the higher the density • density = m/V= mass/volume • Helium is less dense than air because each atom has less mass than molecules of Nitrogen (N2) and Oxygen (O2) Atmospheric Pressure • Think about an ocean of air above us pressing down • Air pressure at sea level is 15 pounds/square inch. In other words, a column of air one inch square weighs about 15 pounds • A 1 square meter column of air weighs 39x39x15 pounds or nearly 23,000 pounds! Lift • Replace a volume of air with something that weighs less than that volume of air, BUT TAKES UP THE SAME VOLUME, and it will float • Density of He is much less than the density of air • Same number of atoms but each atom of He is lighter • Upward Force = Lift = L • Lift on the balloon is L= (weight of air displaced) – (weight of balloon+He+payload) My Experiments: Stratospheric Electrodynamics over Thunderstorms • Sprites and Lightning • Measure electric field, magnetic field, X- rays • Balloons in the stratosphere 10 to 15 hour flights with zero pressure balloons • Coordinated ground-based measurements/global location network Sprite scenario balloon Pasko et al, 2006 stenbaek-nielsen, GRL, 2000.
Recommended publications
  • Steve Fossett
    2 0 1 7 Steve Fossett Steve Fossett was an American entrepreneur and traveler best known for circumnavigating the world in a Roziere balloon in 2002. “A Rozière balloon (or simply Rozière) is a type of hybrid balloon that has separate chambers for a non-heated lifting gas (such as hydrogen or helium) as well as for a heated lifting gas (as used in a hot air balloon or Montgolfière). The design was created by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier (1754..1785).” He was an American busi- nessman and a record-setting aviator, sailor, and adventurer. He was the first person to fly solo nonstop around the world in a balloon. He made his fortune in the financial services industry and was best known for many world rec- ords, including five nonstop circumnavigations of the Earth: as a long-distance solo balloonist, as a sailor, and as a solo flight fixed-wing aircraft pilot. He was born in Jackson, Tennessee and grew up in Garden Grove, California, where he graduated from Garden Grove High School. His interest in adventure began early. As a Boy Scout, he grew up climbing the mountains of California, beginning with the San Jacinto Mountains."When I was 12 years old I climbed my first mountain, and I just kept going, taking on more diverse and grander projects." He did not have a natural gift for athletics or team sports, so he focused on activities that required persistence and endurance. His father, an Eagle Scout, encouraged him to pursue these types of adventures and encouraged him to become involved with the Boy Scouts early.
    [Show full text]
  • Fossett Search Members Contribute Expertise State of the Wing Parris, Keilholtz, Prusak
    Winter 2008 The Official Magazine of California Wing Civil Air Patrol Fossett Search Members contribute expertise State of the Wing Parris, Keilholtz, Prusak Reprinted from CAP News Online Calif. Wing Members Handle Phase of Steve Fossett Search Eagle Call is an authorized publication serving the interests of the California Wing of the United States Searchers operate from Air Force Auxiliary Civil Air Patrol. A private firm that is not connected with the Department of the Air Force Bishop, Calif., base or with the Civil Air Patrol Corporation publishes it. September 11, 2007 The appearance of advertisements in this publication, including supplements and inserts, does not constitute Photos by Lt. Col. John C. Jay an endorsement by the U.S. Air Force or CAP of the products and services advertised herein. (Clockwise, from top): A California Wing member inspects a map of the search Eagle Call encourages contributions from all CAP area. members, military personnel, and related agencies. Capt. Frank Duarte of San Jose Senior Squadron 80 Material must be original, free of copyright constraint, operates the California Wing fly-away radio kit. unpublished, and submitted only to Eagle Call, which Lt. Col. Joseph Chizmadia of Los Angeles County Group 1 reserves the right to approve, reject, edit, abridge or conducts a base briefing at 6 a.m. Sept. 11. expand any submission. Features must be discussed in Lt. Col. Bill Gordon of San Jose Senior Squadron advance with the Editor, Capt. Greg Solman, at 909- 87 conducts a flight crew briefing of Maj. Charles Russell, 338-5789. mission pilot, and Sr.
    [Show full text]
  • Nick Saum LTA Resume
    Nicholas M. Saum, PhD Inducted into the U.S. Ballooning Hall of Fame on July 28, 2019 By the Balloon Federation of America at the National Balloon Museum in Indianola, Iowa Nicholas M. Saum, PhD, contributed selflessly to the field of aviation, and aerostation in particular, over the course of a long and colorful career. He set dozens of World and National Records in Altitude, Distance and Duration in a rozier balloon he built himself. He authored the Propane and Fuel Management handbook for the BFA, and contributed to the Balloon Flying Handbook published by the FAA. He served on the launch teams of many of Steve Fossett’s circumglobal balloon attempts, as the crew chief and launch director for the German team on the Chrysler TransAtlantic balloon race, and on Kevin Uliassi’s J. Renee 1 circumglobal attempts. He taught many students how to fly both hot air and gas balloons, and served as an FAA Designated Examiner for balloons. While Nick prided himself on his irascible manner, he was the first to step up to service, to support fellow aeronauts, to research, experiment and publish in the field of safety, and to lend his considerable intellectual prowess to the growing body of knowledge in our sport. As a young man, Nick loved to hunt pheasants and shoot skeet. He regularly participated in fox hunts, and enjoyed riding horses. He enjoyed roller skating, entering dance competitions, and tinkering with carts. After teaching himself Morse Code, Nick obtained a job with the Illinois Central Railroad. Later, in the US Army, he served as a Morse Code Interceptor in Okinawa.
    [Show full text]
  • ANNUAL REPORT Denver, CO 80230 Englewood, CO 80112 Wingsmuseum.Org Explorationofflight.Org TABLE of CONTENTS
    AIR & SPACE MUSEUM EXPLORATION OF FLIGHT 20 9 7711 E. Academy Blvd 13005 Wings Way ANNUAL REPORT Denver, CO 80230 Englewood, CO 80112 WingsMuseum.org ExplorationOfFlight.org TABLE OF CONTENTS Letter from the President . 3 2019 Highlights . 4 — Admissions, Membership and Volunteers . 5 — Curator’s Corner . 5 — Education . 6 — Museum Events . 7 — Apollopalooza . 8 — Exploration of Flight . 9 — Financials . 10 -11 — Donors . 12-13 — Exhibits . 14 — Board of Directors and Staff . 15 Contact Us . 16 WINGS OVER THE ROCKIES’ MISSION IS TO EDUCATE AND INSPIRE PEOPLE OF ALL AGES ABOUT AVIATION AND SPACE ENDEAVORS OF THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE. 2 LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT Dear Friends, Donors, Members, and Volunteers of Wings Over the Rockies: It is my pleasure to share with you our 2019 Annual Report . I am proud to lead this great organization to deliver its mission to “educate and inspire people of all ages about aviation and space endeavors of the past, present and future ”. This year, as always, I am thrilled to share the great news of our achievements and impact . 2019 marks the third year in a row of incredible growth for Colorado’s Official Air & Space Museum. From increasing attendance 22% since 2018; to hosting eight days of Apollopalooza celebrations honoring the Apollo 11 moon landing; to bringing Behind the Wings to 6 7. MILLION viewers online and countless more in homes in 19 states and 44 PBS markets, Wings delivers the most exciting opportunities to enjoy and engage in aerospace . Last year, our Lowry hangar welcomed legends Apollo 11 Director Gene Kranz and Astronaut and Senator Harrison Schmitt, in addition to hosting the 2019 National Aviation Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony .
    [Show full text]
  • EOM Timeline
    LRS OUTPUT MANAGEMENT TIMELINE NOW LRS introduces MFPSecure and MobileConnector Barack Obama elected to second term as US President 2013 LRS acquires Capella Technologies Two bombs explode during Boston Marathon LRS opens office in Paris, France LRS introduces PageCenterX Apple introduces the iPhone LRS achieves Partnership Certification 2007 World’s largest passenger ship, Liberty of the Seas from SAP goes into service The Superjumbo jet aircraft Airbus A380 makes its first flight from Toulouse, France 2005 LRS opens offices in Singapore Disneyland celebrates 50th anniversary LRS introduces VPSX WWII Memorial opens in Washington DC LRS opens offices in Hartford, CT, Irvine, CA, 2004 Vatican City gains full membership right to and Atlanta, GA the United Nations Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly solo around the world nonstop in a balloon 2002 LRS introduces VMCF/WebAccess Odyssey finds signs of water ice deposits on planet Mars LRS opens office in Australia The Euro currency is introduced in the European Union LRS introduces VPS/Email 1999 Human population of the world surpasses six billion Search engine Google is founded LRS introduces AnyQueue Novel Harry Potter and Sorcerer’s Stone released in US 1998 Japanese train builders (Maglev) claim world speed record at 332 MPH LRS introduces PageCenter 1997 Scotland scientists reveal the first successful cloning of an adult mammal, a sheep named Dolly Comet Hale-Bopp is discovered and becomes visible to the naked eye nearly a year later. 1995 LRS introduces DRS/TCPIP JavaScript first introduced
    [Show full text]
  • Felix Baumgartner - the Man Who Fell to Earth
    Felix Baumgartner - The Man Who Fell To Earth. A Report by Red Bull Stratos Mission Control On 14th October 2012 Felix Baumgartner, aged 43, flew into the Stratosphere over New Mexico, USA in a helium balloon, wearing a pressure suit. He jumped from 36402 m from the balloon’s capsule, free falling for around 6 minutes then using a parachute to land on Earth again. The whole jump took about 10 minutes. Felix broke the sound barrier on his descent with a top speed of 1342.8 km/hour, the first human to do this without an engine. He also broke the world records for the highest piloted balloon flight and highest altitude jump. Lots has been written and said about Felix’s amazing descent to Earth but not so much about his journey upwards in the balloon and what would have happened if Felix hadn’t jumped when he did and just carried on upwards to the Exosphere. Looking at the diagram there are 5 main layers of the atmosphere. The balloon started off at ground level in the Troposphere. The Troposphere goes up for about 10km. Nearly all weather happens here, as 99% of water vapour is found in the Troposphere. As you climb higher in the Troposphere air pressure drops and temperatures drop too. Felix might have noticed the temperature getting a bit colder at this point. Now Felix would have moved into the Stratosphere. This goes from the top of the Troposphere to about 50km above ground. The ozone layer is found here. Ozone molecules in this layer absorb high energy UV light from the Sun and convert this energy into heat.
    [Show full text]
  • 21. Díl – Red Bull Stratos Aneb Nadzvukový Muž Felix Baumgartner „Občas Se Musíte Dostat Opravdu Vysoko, Abyste Pochopili, Jak Malí Jste
    21. díl – Red Bull Stratos aneb nadzvukový muž Felix Baumgartner „Občas se musíte dostat opravdu vysoko, abyste pochopili, jak malí jste. Vracím se domů.“ Slova, která pronesl před svým historickým skokem z výšky téměř 39 km rakouský parašutista Felix Baumgartner. Zcela bez nadsázky lze říci, že tímto svým výkonem přepsal část dějin letectví. Navzdory některým názorům, že celý podnik sloužil jen ke zviditelnění značky Red Bull, na následujících řádcích ukáži, že ve skutečnosti šlo o zcela regulérní výzkumný program, v jehož rámci bylo dosaženo ohromně pozoruhodného výkonu, díky kterému si Felix Baumgartner zaslouží své místo v dějinách letectví po boku velikánů, jakými jsou Chuck Yeager anebo Jurij Gagarin. 14. říjen 2012 je dnem, kdy se skokem z výšky 38 969 metrů podařilo vůbec poprvé překonat rychlost zvuku ve volném pádu mimo dopravní prostředek a bez jakéhokoli pohonu. Kromě dosažení několika dalších rekordů bylo získáno velké množství cenných dat a informací o chování lidského těla v extrémních podmínkách, a v neposlední řadě byly položeny základy pro novou generaci systémů umožňujících záchranu lidského života v mimořádně velkých výškách, což je oblast, která s nastupující érou vesmírné turistiky nabývá na významu. Manhigh, Excelsior a Joe Kittinger Protože projekt Red Bull Stratos sdílí mnoho styčných bodů s programy, kterých se v druhé polovině padesátých a na počátku šedesátých let účastnil Joseph Kittinger, jenž se stal poradcem, konzultantem a mentorem Stratosu, hodí se je hned zkraje alespoň stručně představit. První z nich byl předstupněm amerického vesmírného programu, ve druhém šlo o zkoušky systému pro záchranu pilotů tehdejších nejmodernějších stíhacích strojů, kteří by byli nuceni se katapultovat ve velkých výškách.
    [Show full text]
  • Greetings Members and Friends of EAA Chapter 866, One COOL
    August 2016 Submittal Greetings Members and Friends of EAA Chapter 866, Ahoy All Aviation Aficionados! The Arrival of August brings An Abundance of Aeronautical And Aerospace News to Alliterate About! One COOL Presentation If you missed the July chapter meeting last month, you missed a wonderful treat! Our guest speaker, Don Wilson, shared some fascinating inside stories about his tenure as Crew Chief on Air Force One!! He spoke and answered questions for more than an hour and everyone seemed eager to hear more! PLUS, thanks to our newly installed Air Conditioning unit with its “whisper quiet mode”, not only did our guest speaker regale us with great stories, but we could actually hear them too!! Hopefully, we can get Mr. Wilson to return soon for an encore presentation. Convention:EAA Annual Actually, there were at least THREE different week-long “Conventions” held this past month. TWO of them involved a lot of fancy speaking, but only ONE of them involved a lot of Fancy Flying!! You can decide for yourself which convention was the best, I’ve got my mind made up. For us EAA types, one of the biggest and best news-making events of the year is the annual EAA “Convention” at Oshkosh. A lot of folks just call it “Oshkosh”, some call it “AirVenture”, but most of the EAA staffers just call it Well “Convention”. This week-long aviation adventure-fest just wrapped up last week!! Among other things, the Two-Millionth Young Eagle was flown last week at EAA “Convention”!! Way to Go Young Eagle Volunteers! Even though I didn’t make it to go to the big show, I did hear from our chapter member extraordinaire, Deborah Van Treuren, several times.
    [Show full text]
  • Solar Power Survey
    www.Breaking News English.com Ready-to-Use English Lessons by Sean Banville “1,000 IDEAS & ACTIVITIES Thousands more free lessons FOR LANGUAGE TEACHERS” from Sean's other websites www.breakingnewsenglish.com/book.html www.freeeslmaterials.com/sean_banville_lessons.html Level 3 Solar-powered plane makes history 6th July, 2015 http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1507/150706-solar-impulse.html Contents The Article 2 Discussion (Student-Created Qs) 14 Warm-Ups 3 Language Work (Cloze) 15 Before Reading / Listening 4 Spelling 16 While Reading / Listening 5 Put The Text Back Together 17 Match The Sentences And Listen 6 Put The Words In The Right Order 18 Listening Gap Fill 7 Circle The Correct Word 19 Comprehension Questions 8 Insert The Vowels (a, e, i, o, u) 20 Multiple Choice - Quiz 9 Punctuate The Text And Add Capitals 21 Role Play 10 Put A Slash ( / ) Where The Spaces Are 22 After Reading / Listening 11 Free Writing 23 Student Survey 12 Academic Writing 24 Discussion (20 Questions) 13 Homework 25 Answers 26 Please try Levels 0, 1 and 2 (they are easier). Twitter twitter.com/SeanBanville Facebook www.facebook.com/pages/BreakingNewsEnglish/155625444452176 Google + https://plus.google.com/+SeanBanville THE ARTICLE From http://www.BreakingNewsEnglish.com/1507/150706-solar-impulse.html A solar-powered plane has made history by flying from Japan to Hawaii, a journey of almost 6,500 kilometres. The plane is called Solar Impulse 2. Solar panels that cover the plane convert the sun's rays into power. Scientists hope that all airplanes in the future will fly using solar power.
    [Show full text]
  • Five Miles up with … Felix Baumgartner | Compass - Yahoo!
    Five Miles Up with … Felix Baumgartner | Compass - Yahoo! ... http://travel.yahoo.com/blogs/compass/five-miles-felix-baumgar... YAHOO! TRAVEL Five Miles Up with … Felix Baumgartner By Bekah Wright | Compass – Tue, Nov 13, 2012 4:12 PM EST (Photo: Red Bull Stratos) The Taipei 101 Tower in Taiwan. Marmet Cave in Velebit National Parc, Croatia. France's Millau Bridge. The Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur. Rio de Janeiro's Christ the Redeemer statue. This might sound like a must-see list of some of the world's awe-inspiring attractions, but for Felix Baumgartner, it's just another day at work. His job description: BASE jumper, skydiver, death defyer. Last month, Baumgartner undertook the Red Bull Stratos project, freefalling 128,100 feet (24 miles) above Roswell, N.M., at 833 mph (Mach 1.24), becoming the first man to break the speed of sound in free fall. And while some people have home movies of their travels, he's got a documentary, Space Dive, airing this week on the National Geographic Channel. What's something you never fail to pack in your suitcase? "SPACE DIVE" ON NAT GEO CHANNEL A picture of my girlfriend Nici, so she's with me wherever I go. » Friday, 11/16: 9 p.m. EST What's your favorite form of travel? Skydiving, BASE jumping or piloting a helicopter. »Saturday, 11/17: midnight EST If you're flying commercially, do you carry-on or check-in? Check in. I hate bothering with carry-on, even the smallest bag. Window or aisle? Aisle. It's often cold in the window sea—and besides, because I do a lot of long-distance travel, it's nice to have easy access to restroom! What's your idea of the perfect vacation? It doesn't matter so much where it is, but what makes it a vacation to me is no e-mails, no telephone.
    [Show full text]
  • Dynamics of a Skydiver's Epic Free Fall
    quick study Dynamics of a skydiver’s epic free fall José M. Colino, Antonio J. Barbero, and free fall for a record vertical distance of 36.4026 km. The data Francisco J. Tapiador also reveal another feature of the jump that may not have grabbed headlines but that is of great interest to those who In October 2012 Felix Baumgartner fell study motion through fluids: The effect of the atmosphere on Baumgartner’s motion changed dramatically as he ap- farther and faster than anyone before proached the speed of sound. him. The forces he experienced during his flight can be readily analyzed, thanks to It’s a drag the GPS data collected during his jump. Objects falling downward toward Earth don’t just feel the force of gravity. They also experience an upward-directed drag force generated by the atmosphere. For a massive object José M. Colino is a faculty member in the department of applied like a skydiver in free fall, the drag force is proportional to physics at the University of Castilla-La Mancha in Toledo, Spain; 1 2 the square of the speed v and is given by F =−⁄2 C Aρv . Here Antonio J. Barbero is a faculty member in the department of D D Francisco J. Tapiador A is the cross-sectional area of the object perpendicular to the applied physics at UCLM in Albacete; and direction of motion, which we’ll assume to be vertical when is a faculty member in the department of atmospheric sciences at we turn to Baumgartner’s jump; ρ is the air density; and CD UCLM in Toledo.
    [Show full text]
  • Summary Report
    SUMMARY REPORT: Findings of the Red Bull Stratos Scientific Summit California Science Center, Los Angeles, California, USA January 23, 2013 FOREWORD Making a supersonic freefall from the edge of space was always my dream. But I never dreamed how many people would share it. When I jumped from a capsule 24 miles above Earth on October 14, 2012, millions of people across the globe shared the experience live on the Internet and television. Now, after months of analysis, we’re very happy to be able to share another aspect of the adventure with people worldwide: the scientific findings of the Red Bull Stratos team. The experts who contributed to the mission are extraordinary – the very best of the best in some of the most challenging areas of science, medicine and technology. They safeguarded my life; and in doing so, they broke boundaries in their own fields just as surely as I broke the sound barrier. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to express my gratitude (definitely not in these few words), but I hope that after reading this document you too will appreciate their historic efforts. From the start, the men and women you’ll hear from in these pages, people like our technical project director Art Thompson and the legendary Joe Kittinger, were determined that Red Bull Stratos would be a true scientific flight test program, with the results of our work shared for the benefit of the global community. It’s thrilling to know that, after months of analysis, their insights are being released to a world eager for the findings.
    [Show full text]