Evening star., 1933-06-27
PICARD PREDICTS
FLIGHT SPECTACLE
Stratosphere Balloon to Be
Largest Ever Built,
Scientist Says.
BY PROF. JEAN PICARD.


CHICAGO, June 26.-The sesquicen-
tennial Of mans first successful at
tempt in sending into the sky balloon
filled with hot air was observed June 5.
And now a century and one-half Of
ballooning will be celebrated at a Cen
tury of Progress Exposition in Chicago
by an expedition to the stratosphere to
be supervised by Prof. Auguste Picard,
whose first flight into the upper regions
was made in Europe May q, 1881.
The history of antiquity contains
many legends of men who tried to leave
the earth with their human bodies.
This history of mans attempt to con-
quer the air and fly like birds comes
up through medieval times and the
Renaissance. Many tried. None sue
ceeded.
Leonardo da Vinci, fifteenth century
Italian painter, sculptor, architect and
engineer, was the first to study the
problem from scientific point of view
He saw the possibility of success, but
lacked the means of execution.
Montgolfiers Succeed.
But 1t wasn't until June 5, 1888, that
the brothers, Joseph Michel and Jacques
Etienne Montgolfier, Frenchmen, sue
ceeded in the realization of one of mans
Oldest dreams. These brothers had OBJ
served the suspension of clouds in the
atmosphere and proceeded to initiate a
large light bag with smoke from a fire
placed underneath. Their experiment
succeeded, although they did not know
at the time that it was the hghtness of
heated air as compared to an equal
volume OF air at a lower temperature
tnat caused their balloon to ascend.
FaVdrfch1v
make the balloon more practical and
to enable 1t to carry human beings.
Later In the same year Joseph Mont
golfer sent up balloon which car
r1ed sheep, cock and a duck. They
were still alive when the balloon came
down.
Again the same year the French
scientist, Jacques Alexandra Cesar
Charles, designed a balloon which was
inflated by hydrogen gas. This air
ven!cle was a success and was like a
modern free balloon in that it had
valve, net and appendage through
"hlch an excess OF gas could escape.
King Of Air for Century.
The free balloon remained king of
tne air Tor century. It attained in
some cases even military importance.
oeing used during the Franco-Prussian
war in the siege of Paris in 187O-I871
Then King Balloon got a big brother
the dirigible of Count Zeppelin. Then
came the balloons little brother. the
alrp!ane. This little brother was very
small at first, but soon he could fly
ngher than his bigger brothers.
FOR many years the limit to which
eitner plane or balloon could rise was
not dictated by mechanical constr1,c-
tlon OF either craft, but by the human
mcapacity to breathe the rarefied air
OF the upper atmosphere. 1t was dis
covered that If the rarefied air is re-
paced by pure oxygen man can endure
much thinner atmosphere.
Even then the limit of human en-
ourance Is soon reached because pure
oxygen Is insufficient to maintain life
Wnere the atmospheric pressure is only
one-tenth OF an atmosphere, or about
10 POUNDS TO square inch In addi-
uon terrific suffering from cold was
tnlnceeo on the pioneers of high alti-
tuoes. Tnis cold was even worse for
the aviator than for the balloonist
Balloon Was Chosen.
In 1881 my brother, Auguste Pic
card, OF the University of Brussels
sought to measure the cosmic rays at
an altitude never before reached bv
man. For the modern engineer and
physicist, it was not too difficult to de-
sign closed gondola, in which normal
llvlng conditions could be maintained.
and In which a small but modern
p.lysical laboratory could be built. For
ii1tlng this laboratory, Prof. Picard
cnose the free balloon. It is true the
arplane had taken away the altitude
record from the free balloon But nv
brother is free-balloon pilot, and
had already used the balloon for re-
search work in physics.
He modified the free balloon to en-
able 1t to rise to an altitude where the
lifting power of the air is only one
tenth OF what it is at the sea level.
An ordinary balloon would never rise
to the heights at which he intended
to measure the cosmic rays. It was
evident his balloon should not be fully
inflated before the start. This necessi-
tated the use Of a balloon without a
net.
The occupants of the air-tight cabin
must be able to release ballast and
hydrogen for the conduct of the fight.
So the stratosphere balloon was in
vented. Full credit must be given to
the Belgian Fonds National de Re-
cherches Scientiflques (National Fund
for Scientific Research), for making
possible the first free balloon flight |
into the stratosphere.
Made Two Ascents.
Auguste Picard rose into the strato- |
sphere. May 27, 1881, and made valu-
able measurements of cosmic rays. !
Again. more measurements were made |
in 1882, when he made second as
cension. Plans for a third ascension |
into the stratosphere from the Century |
of Progress Exposition have been con-
cluded
In another article shall describe !