Evening star., 1933-05-27

n OO,OUU lCCI, 4lCdlly AASiiSA
than any human ever has gone,
have been announced here by Lieut..
Comdr. Thomas G. w. Settle, U. S. N,
native of the Capital and holder of
number of balloon trophies and world
records.
Condr Settle, who has been serving
as naval inspector at the Goodyear
Zeppelin Co. plant, which has just COM
pleted construction of the U. S. S. Ma
con, announced his plans for the fight
following his appearance before the
joint Congressional Committee appoint
ed to investigate the Akron crash.
His attempt to penetrate the mys-
teries of the atmospheric strata out
side that in which man lives will be
made during July. His take-of point
will be Soldier Field. Chicago, and he
will be accompanied either by Prof.
whose 10-mile- high balloon ascensions
in Europe now are world records. CT by
one OF the students of cosmic rays of
the University of Chicago. Measure
mentS of the cosrnic rays will be one
of the chief scientific objectives of the
flight.
Balloon Under Construction.
Comd-. Settle has been assigned by
the Navy Department to duty under
the commandant of the 9th Naval Dis
trict, Chicago, in connection with the
undertaking. Leaving the Capital to-
day or tomorrow, he probably will ro-
tate between Akron, where his balloon
is being built; Detroit, where the seven
foot globular car is being constructed,
and Chicago, where flight headquar-
ters have been established, until he is
ready for his adventure.
THE balloon which is being built
for me at Akron will be ve-y much
larger than that OF Prof. Picard, and
the cal, through the use of new type
of magnesium alloy known as dow
metal will be much lighter than Pic
cards." Comdr. Settle said. With this
combination, if conditions are at all
an altitude far in excess of that at
tanned by Piccard's balloon"
The bag of Settles balloon will con-
tain 100000 cubic feet of gas when
fully inflated The globe in which
Settle and his companion will live will
be the same size as that used by Pic
card, but will incorporate number
of improvements. 1t will be tremen-
dously strong in spite of its light
weight, and will be sealed to prevent
leakage of its life-giving air into the
thin void into which it is expected to
rise. Oxygen will be carried in tanks
and released as needed into the gondola.
The problem of passing the balloon
valve-control rope through the shell
of the gondola without permitting air
leakage is expected to be solved by
Lassing it through the tube of u
shaped barometer tube sealed to the
shell at one end and filled with mer-
curry The mercury will be free to rise
and fall with changes in atmospheric
pressure, but will constantly maintain
an alright seal.
Heating Unnecessary.
Temperatures below 81 degrees be-
low zero will be encountered above the
10-mile level. Heating of the gondola
will not be necessary, however, because
of the power of the metal shell to
absorb the exceedingly hot rays of the
sun in the thin air Of upper space.
Half of the shell will be painted black
outside to absorb the heat rays, the
other half polished to reflect them.
BY presenting either the black or
polished surface to the sun through an
arrangement provided TO rotate the
globe, the crews quarters can be either
! heated or permitted TO cool. 1t was
| recalled that when Piccard's rotating
mechanism failed, exposing the black
! half of the sphere to the sun, the
| temperature inside the gondola climbed
to 1o6 degrees while it was 60 degrees
! be'ow outside.
I Settle plans to take off at about 1C
or IL pm. to take advantage of the
'ool night temperature during the early
hours Of the flight AS the sun rises
and the balloon climbs higher, the heat
of the sun aids in expanding the gas
The greatest altitude is expected to be
attained about mid-afternoon, when the
! suns rays will be hottest. Descent Will
be made during the late afternoon anc
evening. with landing during the early
part of the night.
The globe, being air-tight, also viii
be water-tight and will remain afloat
for an indefinite period if the landing