Show strato sphere ere balloon ball oon 4 major kepner and captain stevens talk it ivr prepared by national soc society toty washington D C Q service lct ORK on the worlds largest free balloon which will be used tn in the national geographic society united states army air corps stratosphere nights flights Is well under way at the goodyear zep helln corporations corporation a plant at akron ohio the balloon makers will use two and a thard acres of cotton fabric impregnated with rubber in constructing the bag and it will have a capacity of cubic feet of gas when the balloon rises from the earth only partly inflated it will be shaped like a gigantic exclamation point with the round gondola representing the period As the gondola leaves the ground the top of the bag will be feet above it approximately the height of a 27 story office building when the bag becomes spherical in the thin air of the stratosphere it will be large enough to enclose an 11 story build building log of normal height and of equal width the assent in which it Is hoped to reach the highest point to which it Is practicable for a balloon to lift a man will be made in the united states the purpose of the flight Is to clear problems of the upper air that are still puzzling to science it Is estimated that it will rise to a height of more than 15 miles above sea level the first ascent will be made in june by capt albert W stevens noted aerial observer and photographer of the army air corps who conceived the project and mal maj william kerner kepner balloon expert of the army air corps if this flight Is successful the same balloonists will make a second ascent in september in order to check observations ions lons under similar conditions scientists to give aid to advise in regard to the scientific plans and equipment and to direct studies of the data collected dr gilbert grosvenor president of the national geographic society has bas formed a committee of outstanding american scientists its members are dr lyman J briggs director united states bureau of standards chairman dr F V coville united states department part ment of agriculture gen oscar westover Wc stover assistant chief united states army air corps capt R S patton director united states coast and geodetic survey dr W F G swann bartol research earch foundation franklin institute swarthmore pa dr floyd K department of physics cornell university and member research council american association for the advancement of science dr charles E K director research laboratory eastman kodak company dr charles F marvin martin chief of united states weather bureau and dr john oliver la gorce national geographic society the huge balloon to be used in the ascents accents will have a gas capacity five times that of the bag in which commander settle established his li 11 mile record last november and nearly three and a halt half times that of the soviet balloon which in september rose nearly 12 miles above the earth the exact point at which the balloon will take to the air has not been selected but it will probably be in the northern great plains region such a choice it Is 18 pointed out will give ample ampie room for drift to the northeast east or southeast and a landing in open country so that the bag can be salvaged the completed plans for the flights are due to the efforts of captain stevens who has gathered data during the past eleven months directed toward the use in stratosphere flights nf the largest balloon which it Is practicable to construct and an ascent the h highest point to which it Is beto believed lieven possible tor for man to rise in a pas gas bag with hope of a safe landing the mere attainment of altitude however Is not a primary object of the aseen ascenti ascents ts it Is desired to reach the greatest attainable tai height above the earth in order that conditions there can be observed stevens hat has experience captain stevens has penetrated the lower levels of the stratosphere by airplane on numerous occasions and also has served as observer on a number of army balloon aseen ascensions during his high altitude flying he has collected much scientific data in a flight over dayton ohio in october 1923 1928 he be reached an altitude of feet and obtained the only complete record of thermometer readings ever made in america showing on the same day the temperature gradient in tile the region from the earth to the strato sphere other such records of temperatures from the earth to an altitude of approximately feet la Is one of the objectives of the 1934 ascents accents such data will be extremely valuable in weather studies another project of importance will be the trapping of samples of stratosphere air at several levels these specimens will be analyzed and studied later in physical and chemical laboratories the preliminary agenda for scientific data to be collected during the ascent contains 14 other items varying from high level photography and the ascertainment of the electrical condition of the air at various levels to cosmic ray studies and efforts to determine ozone concentration the mysterious ozone layer of the upper air which some scientists assert la Is all that saves life on the earth from destruction st by ultra short light rays Is thought to lie far above the highest point that can be reached by a manned balloon it Is hoped however that evidences of an increasing ozone content of the air can be detected 15 miles up la in order to house the many instruments and automatic recording devices that will be taken aloft the balloon will have attached to it a spherical gondola of light metal eight feet four inches in diameter this diameter Is one foot and a third greater than that of the gondolas used by professor and commander settle and will provide a cubic capacity more than twice as great greal the instruments many of them designed and modified by captain stevens as a result of trials during high altitude nights flights will be largely automatic leaving observer and pilot tree free to take up the many activities in the gondola that will require attention A number of tiny cameras using motion picture film will automatically and tirelessly read dials and clock faces simultaneously at frequent intervals kenners Kepner Kep ners Js fine record maj william E kepner who will pilot the stratosphere balloon Is one of the outstanding balloon pilots of the united states army ile he served in the world war in the infantry and was decorated by both the american and french armies for exceptional services lie holds four medals legion of honor croix de guerre with palm distinguished service cross and good conduct medal united states marine corps ue he has been an officer of the air corps since 1920 1020 find and holds the aeronautical ratings of airplane pilot airplane observer airship pilot and balloon pilot and observer lie was winner of both the national and the international balloon races in 1028 1928 receiving the litchfield trophy and the king albert of belgium trophy lie he was nas a classmate of commander rosendahl of the los angeles and of commander settle for three years at lakehurst major kepner holds a naval certificate as rigid airship pilot he served on the los angeles as assistant distant navigator and received training from the german zeppelin crew lie he commanded the RS I 1 semi rigid airship in 1027 1928 and was the first to pilot an all metal airship in 1 1929 captain stevens has made innumerable high altitude photographs some gome of them by the use of infrared infra red rays showing mountain peaks more than miles from the camera two of hla his photographs of extraordinary interest to geographers and astronomers are unique one taken from a plane feet over central argentina Is the e first photograph ever made showing laterally the curvature of the earth the other made at an alti altitude of feet over southern maine li it august 1932 Is the only photograph which shows the advancing front of the moons shadow on the earth during an eclipse of the sun |