[PREPARATION OF HIGH ALTITUDE WEATHER BALLOON - 1967]

Year Published: 1967

Creator: G.T. Schjeldahl Company

Description:

This silent footage shows the launch of a high altitude weather balloon and what appears to be a scientific payload (seen briefly at :29 and later at 5:06). It's most likely that this payload was part of the Planetary Entry Parachute Program (PEPP) which were launched at Walker Air Force Base at Roswell, New Mexico in 1967. The balloon lifted the aeroshell to a height of over 39 kilometers and then the vehicle was released. Following seconds of free fall the solid fueled rockets (12 Falcon in one version or 8 Sword-1 motors in the other) ignited and accelerated the test vehicle upwards, simulating a Mars Atmosphere reentry trajectory. At burn out the aeroshell was released from the dummy payload, which then unfurled the parachutes and landed.

This launch was part of a series performed under contracts awarded to the G.T. Schjeldahl Company by the U.S. Air Force in the late 1950s. The goal was to develop polyester balloons capable of reaching the stratosphere. The company was the brainchild of Gilmore Tilmen Schjeldahl, who was a well known inventor in plastics, adhesives and circuitry. He was awarded 16 US patents and may be best known for inventing the plastic-lined airsickness bag. He and his company designed and built a series of balloon based experimental communications projects including the Echo I and Echo II metalized balloon satellites, the manned Project Stargazer mission, the Stratascope II balloon-borne astronomical telescope, and PAGEOS -- a balloon satellite which was launched by NASA in June 1966.

Complete Record: This silent footage shows the launch of a high altitude weather balloon and what appears to be a scientific payload (seen briefly at :29 and later at 5:06). It's most likely that this payload was part of the Planetary Entry Parachute Program (PEPP) which were launched at Walker Air Force Base at Roswell, New Mexico in 1967. The balloon lifted the aeroshell to a height of over 39 kilometers and then the vehicle was released. Following seconds of free fall the solid fueled rockets (12 Falcon in one version or 8 Sword-1 motors in the other) ignited and accelerated the test vehicle upwards, simulating a Mars Atmosphere reentry trajectory. At burn out the aeroshell was released from the dummy payload, which then unfurled the parachutes and landed. This launch was part of a series performed under contracts awarded to the G.T. Schjeldahl Company by the U.S. Air Force in the late 1950s. The goal was to develop polyester balloons capable of reaching the stratosphere. The company was the brainchild of Gilmore Tilmen Schjeldahl, who was a well known inventor in plastics, adhesives and circuitry. He was awarded 16 US patents and may be best known for inventing the plastic-lined airsickness bag. He and his company designed and built a series of balloon based experimental communications projects including the Echo I and Echo II metalized balloon satellites, the manned Project Stargazer mission, the Stratascope II balloon-borne astronomical telescope, and PAGEOS -- a balloon satellite which was launched by NASA in June 1966.