OCR Text |
Show 1976 14. OCT. THURSDAY, Get off tiie road. The Telephone MAKES FINAL FLIGHT Ties The Tongue Record Setting Ballon Gondola Explorer II soared nearly 14 miles into the stratosphere on its greatest flight in 1935, but it was lifted only ten feet into the air on its last flight more than 40 years later. Late in January this year, the nine-fomagnesium-allo- y ot balloon gondola was gently lifted by a crane onto a truck and carried from the National Geographic Societys Explorers Hall in Washington, D.C., to the new National Air and Space Museum a few blocks away. Explorer II will join the Wright Brothers first plane, Lindberghs Spirit of St. Louis, and other relics of aviation and space exploration when the Smithsonians new museum opens on July 4. THE NATIONAL Geographic Society and what was then the Army Air Corps sponsored the flight of Explorer II on November 11, 1935. The huge helium-fille- d balloon reached an altitude of 72,395 feet, a record for mans highest flight that endured for 21 years. It was the first organized effort in space exploration. Captains Orvil A. Anderson and Albert W.. Stevens, the balloon pilots, rose from the stratobowl, a amphitheater in the Black Hills of South Dakota, and spent 8 hours cliff-encircl- and 13 minutes above the earth. Dr. Melvin M. Payne, President of the National Geographic Society who was assistant project officer for the flight, recalled its significance: "Explorer II carried 64 scientific instruments totaling one ton. They revealed reams of startling new data on the thin upper atmosphere. In addition, Stevens and Anderson demonstrated that man could live and work in an environment almost as hostile as the dark reaches of space. SCIENTIFIC reports of the flight became the broad foundation for much of this nations subsequent search on the vertical tier." and balloon a Though refron- equipment compared to modern rockets and spacecraft, the launching of Ex- plorer II was plagued by problems and delays. In July 1935, the huge gas 3,700,000 cubic a rip as it was being pumped full of helium, TTiree tons of fabric fell, enveloping three men, but a troop of cavalrymen stationed at the launch site ran to their rescue. above the South Dakota countryside. Hundreds of automobiles took up the chase along dirt roads and across fields, leaving plumes of dust in their wake. bag-capa- city ped Other pioblems delayed the flight until well into strap and clung to it as the gondola landed. THEY SHOUTED to spectators to seize a trailing dragrope and stop their drift. Only one man grabbed, the rope, and he quickly dropped it The balloonists then pulled a cord that ripped open Anderson and Stevens prepared for touchdown by donning football helmets borrowed from the team at gondola touched ground. Calvin Coolidge High School, Rapid City. The balloonists hooked up a strong linen The National Geographic Society published the scien the gas bag just as the tific findings of Explorer II and an earlier, 60,000-foo- t, flight of Explorer I in two technical volumes. Space explorers after World War II came to look upon those two books as their Bible. The Explorer II gondola was placed on exhibit in Explorers Hall when the museum of science and discovery in the Societys head- quarters building opened in January 1964. After inventing the telephone 100 years ago, Alexander Graham Bell demonstrated it to many distinguished visitors in his Boston laboratory. Closeout Prices On 1 976 Scouts Prominent men often became tongue-tie- d in the presence of the wonderful MORRIS instrument. One lawyer, famed for his courtroom eloquence, was asked over the telephone, How do you do?" After a long pause, he could only reply, Rig away we go VOIRSUMGEN ...We Know 839 N. Main jig 752-833- 5 4 autumn. The weather turned bitterly cold and snow fell, and everyone grew increasingly anxious-exce- pt Stevens and Anderson. BOTH REMAINED remarkably calm, Dr. Payne said. Stevens kept in trim by climbing like a frisky goat on the nearby cliffs, frightening all of us. He, however, always seemed totally without fear, and I recall once he fell sound asleep during a discussion of the hazards of the flight." Inflation started again on November 10, and again the balloon ripped, but the slash was patched on the 0 0 17-fo-ot spot .The gas bag, towering 315 feet finally was launched at 7:01 a.m. on November 11, 1935. It shot up swiftly, but when it was 100 feet above the rim of the Stratobowl, it was caught in a sudden downdraft The balloon be- 'r 'x ? W 'TL ' V $ ' gan to sink alarmingly, but Anderson and Stevens quickly dumped 750 pounds of ballast, and their craft started to rise again. Once Explorer II was in the air, Anderson and Stevens kept in constant communication with the earth by short-wav- e radio. Millions of excited Americans hovered around radios that Armistice Day in 1935, eager for reports of the epic flight. 000 ..descending, it drifted for miles a few thousand feet dola are simple pieces of ,, V v ANDERSON WAS permitted to talk to his wife. She asked, How is everything? Where are you? And Anderson dryly answered, I am up in the air." He was-54,feet at that moment. People in the vicinity of the flight followed it by automo- btte. As Explorer II was gon- r- cwecaara FH A APPROVED 100 Nylon 6 Great fall colors HJ9S0D Very Thick 3 Colors (J Installed SCMSIFmA O 100 Installed INSTALLED Colors DO.! DMjjjujKjw SGiira 100 WE MAY BE SMALL BANANAS 1 0 HOMES every Thursday and then add the circulation 91 6 PAD Nylon INSTALLED mv UA AlPIPEKWHOi) mm toaffis GIVE YOU SURE TASTES GOOD! Cache Register alone is about 10,000 OVER Great Colors BUT THE RESULTS WE CAN When you consider the circulation of the INSTALLED MSB 4 SIKB EWTH TMES INSTALLED totals of North Cache, Preston, Tremonton, Grace and Montpelier - you begin to understand why HOURS: Tua. Ihra we believe that we are in fact a MOST VIABLE FORCE IN THE FREE MARKET SYSTEM IN NORTH Sal. f to 1 lo 4 S CLOSED SUNDAYS and MONDAYS Friday jai UTAH AND SOUTH IDAHO. PRESTON CITIZEN PRESTON, IDAHO GRACE CITIZEN CACHE REGISTER LOGAN, UTAH & Easy Financ II THE CACHE CITIZEN ST GRACE, IDAHO THE LEADER TREMONTON, UTAH SMITHFIELD, UTAH NEWS EXAMINER MONTPELIER, IDAHO HOME OF THE SOFT SELL 6 miles tl Availal south of brigham 1 |