Evening star., 1937-06-22
2EM|LE ASCENT
GOAL OF PICARD
1000 Rubber Balloons to
Lift OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
to Pressure Known.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY,


aloft by 1000 little rubber balloons
was announced in Denver today by
DR.. Jean Picard, twin brother of
Auguste Picard, the Belgian physics
professor who in 1881 made the first
ascent into the stratoephere.
Within a short time, DR.. Picard
told the American Association for the
Advancement Of Science, he and his
wife plan to make preliminary ascent
from Rochester, Mimi. in an open
basket drawn by 80 balloons to an alti-
tude of approximately two miles to
see whether the device works out prac-
tically in accordance with his theo-
retical calculations.
1T will work." he said, 'like very
large dog team, and the pilot will be
the driver Of 1000 sky dogs
The balloons will be similar in ap-
pearance to those sold to children on
street corners and at carnivals, but
will be of different sizes and made of
a better grade of rubber They will
be similar to the pilot balloons used
Tor many years by the Weather Bureau
to send aloft instruments for obServ-
Ing conditions in the upper atmosphere.
DR.. Picard, who is the exact image
OF his more famous brother, is we'll
known in Washington, where he has
had many consultations with Govern
ment scientists and has been familiar
figure at scientific society meetings.
His proposed flight into the upper
reaches OF the stratosphere to point
far beyond the ultimate height ever
reached by man before is admittedly
very close to suicide" He proposes
deliberately to ascend to the point
where the balloons will burst Of their
own internal pressure. His chances of
getting down, he says, depends on the
high probability that the rubber of
some OF his SKY dogs will be a little
weaker than that of others. 50 that
they will burst earlier. Thus the
lifting power of the device will be
decreased and it will sink to a lower
level where there will be a greater
factor Of safety. From then on the
balloons can be deliberately exploded,
one by one, so that there will be an
ChSy ucSCcllI W lIle RTOuIlQ.
In theory. DR.. Picard explained,
there can be no question but that the
inclosed rubber balloon will rise to
greater heights from the earth than
any other device known to man. It
will rise until the gas pressure on the
inside Of the rubber ball becomes so
much greater than the atmospheric
pressure on the outside that the fab
ric cannot stand the strain. The
rate at which atmospheric pressure
decreases with altitude is known with
great precision and the exact strength
OF the fabric in each balloon can be
tested.
Twenty Miles Is Estimate.
Twenty miles, DR.. Picard said, is
conservative estimate Of the height
at which inside and outside pres
sures and strength OF rubber would
be exactly balanced, 50 that the bal
looms can be expected to start burst
ing, one by one. He believes that
1t will be possible to spend enough
time at this great height to make
valuable scientific observations. AS
the voyage now IS projected, his wife
will accompany him and act as his
co-pilot.
Obviously, he said, going aloft in a
gondola lifted by a single inclosed
rubber balloon would be deliberate
suicide. Once in the air the pilot
would be helpless. There would be
no way for him to get down until
the balloon burst. With the lifting
power distributed among 1000 units |
OF slightly different strengths he be-
lieves this difficulty will be solved.
The attitudes possible to the open |
balloon, Dr.. Picard said, are strictly |
limited by physical principles The
higher one goes the less the lifting |
strength. But also the higher one |
goes the greater the safety, whereas
with the inclosed balloon the higher
one goes the greater the peril.
The total weight of the Rondola.
passengers and instruments DR.. Pic
card calculates at approximately 1000 |
pounds, 20 that each balloon will be
required to lift only half a pound,
IN his 80-balloon trial fight, DR..
Picard said, the "hitch-up" will be
su1hclent to carry q weight Of 400
pounds to approximately Il miles,
He proposes, however, to deliberately
burst enough OF them to stop the
ascent at two miles. Each will have
oetonators which can be DISCHARGED
electrically from the gondola, 50 that |
the descent can be as fast or slow
Is the pilot pleases.
Balloons to Be Graded.
, In keeping with his metaphor DR..
Picard plans to hitch" his balloons
somewhat as dogs would be hitched
IN dog team. They will be graded
IN size so as to have different lifting
powers. In his preliminary flight the
leaders will be a cluster of 10 with
total lifting power OF so pounds.
Ihese can be exploded all at one time
70 start to descend
Below them will be two other groups
which can be exploded one by one or
IN groups. Perilous as DR.. Picard ad-
mits his proposed voyage to be, he in
sisted that he was confident OF get
ting down alive. Conditions in the
stratosphere, which starts about 10
miles above the surface Of the earth
where temperature ceases to 20 down
At constant rate with altitude. are
becoming OF increasing Importance in
weather forecasting and In the study
OF such phenomena as cosmic radia-
ton. While much Of the necessary
data can be secured by automatic in
struments attached to pilot balloons.
1t was stressed, this never quite makes
up for the personal toucn with coudi-
Hons.
The greatest height yet attained
by man was that reached by the Ma
Nonal Geographic Society's stratos-
phere expedition two years ago-
1885 feet, or approximately l3N
miles The next hirhAst-tb> Ar,,r. l.