PILOT'S NARRATIVE REPORT OF FLIGHT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-03642A001300030064-4
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 18
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 2, 2012
• Sequence Number: 64
• Publication Date: October 24, 1958
• Content Type: REPORT

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Strato-Lab High ~3
PILOTeS NARRATIVE REPORT OF FLIGHT*
by
CDR Malcolm D. Ross, tJSNR~
Office of Naval Research
Washington 25, D. C.
2~ October 195$
On the afternoon of 25 July -after the decision was made for an early
predawn launch the next morning -Lee Lewis and I adhered to a schedule which
was tailored and planned for a launch at approximately 0200 CDT on 26 July.
This included a long nap during the late afternoon. and early evening and sane
time to "putter" with personal flight gear such as cameras, the brightness
meter, filters, and related equipment. This was followed by a leisurely con-
sumed steak at the Spalding Hotel in Crosby, Minnesota, and arrangements for
the preparation of our in-flight rations. We had decided to take along cheese
and ham saadwiches (a dozen of each), a dozen candy bars, and two thermos dugs
for a gallon each of coffee and water.
We then returned to our temporary home at the Lakeside Motel in Crosby to
become engulfed in the activity pertinent to dressing in pressure suits,
attachment of electrodes for physiological data sensing, attachment of nuclear
emulsions to our bodies, a ground check of the pressure suits and a final physi-
cal examination by Navy flight surgeon CAPT Barr and his able doctor assistant
LT Standaerto
At 2320 CDT, 25 July, we were met by CDR Pressler, Scientific Officer for
01(~fR, our pressure suft specialists from the Aero-Medical laboratory of WADC at
Wright Field, and our medical personnel of Pro3ect RAM, Naval Medical Research
Institute, Bethesda, Maryland. Within the space of about two minutes the size
of our motel room shrank to almost minute dimensions as our support personnel
arrived on the scene and began, in very business like fashion, to perform their
assigned tasks as per oia? schedule.
Mr. Donald Rosenbaum and Sgt. Donald Giasson, USAF, had our pressure suits
efficiently arranged to minimize the dressing time. In a matter of minutes the
suits were on, then unzipped so the emulsions and electrodes could be properly
affixed. CDR SparkOian, our ONR Field Rep??esentative, maintained a log with the
number and position of each emulsion for subsequent study of tissue damage from
~ Prepared for inclusion in Technical Report of Strato-Lab High #3 by staff of
Winzen Research Inc., Minneapolis.
~On active duty for the flight.
--
000 ~SC.._ EE11 DATE ~ ~ ~ EY ,~
~~i ~.-
?RIO Cl.~i ~ PA@ES 1_tY _ RE11 OUff _lS~
JIFST `- MEXT tEr ~ AUTM~ IIR tN3
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heavy primarieso Next the pressure suits were zipped up, helmets put on and
ground pressure checks made to check them and determine that there were no
"pressure points'. Film badges and pocket dosimeters, under the custody of
Dro Standaert, were then attached to lacings on the pressure suits and the
serial numbers, also the sub~ect6s name, were recorded by CD~t Sparkman. When
LT Kube, of Px?o3ect RAM, and a medical technician checked the electx?odes and
associated pY~ysiological telemetering equipment, this phase of the operation
was over. Lee and I had a cigarette and checked our ?ditty" bags which con-
tained cameras, film, and miscellaneous items.
At 0020 CDT, 26 July, we departed for the Hanna Iron Nine assigned for
the launch. In order to remain as comfortable as possible, however, we re-
moved the pressure suits, hard hats, helmets, and gloves for the trip by auto
to the mine and these items were kept in the custoc~r of our Air Force pressure
suit experts, 1-+k?. Rosenbaum and Sgt. Giasson. After arriving in the mine it
was obvious there was a delay in the ground preparations so we idled near the
gondola and discussed flight procedures with Nr. E. V. Ashburn and Nr. William
White of the Naval Ordnance Test Station, China bake; Nr. John McClellan, of
the Johns Hopkins University; Dr. Herman Yagoda, of the National Institute of
Health; Da?. Barr, CDR Pressler, and others who were in the bottom of the pit.
At approximately 0400 CDT, we again put on our pressure suit helmets,
hard hats, and gloves, then entered the gondola. First, our coanmunications
equipment was checked again by Herk ~iimA*~, then personnel parachutes were
inspected by Chief Richard Hiles, of NAS Minneapolis. The physiological
telemetering leads were secured and checked by Carlisle of Pro3ect RA1~, and
the pressure suits tied in with the bail-out kits and cabin o~rgen supply by
Sgta Giasson and Mr. Rosenbaum. At 0413 we closed the lower hatch and the
gondola was sealed with our cabin altitude logged at 700 feet. At 0430 we
recorded the pressure and quantities indicated for each of our two 5 liter
liquid oxygen converters. We also logged a relative humidity of 72y6, as
indicated by our humidity meter, determined that our partial pressure of
oxygen was l55 mm of mercury, indicated by the Beckman analyzer, and read
0.686 C02 with the Dwyer carbon dioxide indicator. At 0430 we turned on our
air regeneration equipment. At 0441 CDT, as a thousand thoughts raced through
our minds, there were muffled shouts from the outside, a sense of tugging at
the gondola by an external force, a slight far, then unrestx?ained motion. We
were air-borne?
The interior of our gondola was lighted. Outside it was dark. We did
not see the nearby precipitous walls of the iron mine in our swift vertical
ascent from the pit. My eyes were glued initially to the altimeter and I
determined that our rate of :rise was about 1,000 feet per minute. At 5500
feet MSSL, I valved for 4 seconds to reduce our ascent rate. We were rotating
rapidly as I looked through a port and noted that there was sufficient light
to see Lake Mille Lacs below. I was quite aware of the motion which was both
a horizontal rotation and a pendulum action. As I looked through the port,
Lake Mille Lacs appeared and disappeared so rapider that I realized air sick-
ness was imminent. The feeling passed immediately when I returned ~ attention
to the instrument panel.
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At 0451 CDT, when we reached an altitude of 10,000 feet we combined for our
first report of conditions. Our cabin pressure altitude was 760 feet, C02 was
0.396, 02 was 158 mm, cabin temperature was 80oF, and our rate of rise was slightly
less than 1,000 feet per minute. Condition of the balloon appeared satisfactory,
so were conditions inside. Al]. was well. The subsequent record of our environ-
mental conditions was logged at altitude intervals of 10,000 feet during the as-
cent; after arrival at ceiling altitude these conditions were logged hourly and
are contained in Table 1.
Our first indication of trouble with the scientific equipment came shortly
after 0500 when Lee reported difficulties with the NHS recorder which was to
record photometer and radiometer data. At 0540 CDT, at an altitude of 43,000
feet, Lee attempted to make his radiometer readingso The nadir, however, was
nff scaleo He then went to reference, balanced at zero, and attempted to make
a reading at the 135? position. It was also off scale. He read the 900 posi-
tion as 6.2oC with the -100 scale at an altitude of 44,000 feet. The remaining
positions were again off scale.
At an altitude of 64,000 feet we turned on our television system with the
Dage transistorized television camera in a rack pointed downward looking through
one of the down ports. Thus, the first television pictures were transmitted from
the stratosphere to ground and air-borne.receiverso
At 65,000 feet we noted that the altimeter which indicated internal cabin
pressure - in terms of feet - indicated that we were losing pressure and, there-
fore, were probably not properly sealed. We got out of our seats and started
using masking tape to reinforce the seals around the most obvious, and more
likely, leak sources, the two escape hatches. Lee taped the lower hatch while
I attended to the upper oneo Although the thought did not occur to us at the
time, the change in pressure that appeared to be a leak was actually a density
change due to reduced temperature. The emergency "drill", however, was well
executed and during these critical few minutes we were mutually certain that
the flight, instead of the longest stratospheric flight on record, was doomed
to be one of the shortest.
Lee removed the Rage television camera from the rack, selected the appro-
priate lens, then pointed it at me and focused it while I discussed the pro-
cedure by radio with Dr. Barr who was flying below in the Project RA>I~ Navy RSD.
I laughinglar referred to him as the first doctor who had the opportunity to
examine his patient at this altitude on television. At 70,000 feet, time 0630
CDT, we concluded our first TV test after receiving a satisfactory and quite
encouraging report on the transmission from Dr. Barro
At 0645 CDT our altitude was about 75,000 feet and a partial set of radio-
meter readings were obtained. The values obtained are contained in Table 2.
They were caught "on the fly", as the needle would progress from 0 to full scale
unless held at 0 by dial adjustment. Rather than the dix?ect readings planned,
due to some malfunction, we were only able to read settings of the adjustment
luaobs at full scale and zero. It was obviously quite disturbing, but was the
best that we could doe
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At 071+0 CDT, our altitude had stabilized at approximately 79,500 feet and
we turned our attention to comfort. Lee was first out of his hard hat and
pressure suit helmet. He then loosened a few pressure suit zippers and stood
in the middle of the gondola with hair disheveled, perspiration on his face
but a triumphant gleam in his eyes, and aside `Malcolm, this is sheer unbeliev-
able delight end comfort. Join me." I did ~tmmediate~r.
We stood and looked at each other in the middle of the gondola because we
knew that we had achieved a certain step in the right direction toward comfort
for research at high altitude. This had been a long up hill battle on the
Strato-I,ab program. We also knew, deep within, that we were probably setting
a pattern for a general procedure to be followed at some distant date by the
true space pioneers who might make trips on satellites or in space ships to
the moon or nearby planets. A simple point this matter of comfort, perhaps,
but undoubtedly not fully enough appreciated by those who remain on the ground
and work on problems related to the future men in space.~-
Each of our ten observation ports were numbered. Number 1 port was 9
inches in diameter and in the zenith of the gondola. Without hard hats and
pressure suit helmets it was easy, for the first time, to utilize our zenith
port to the fullest. We both drank in the wondrous sight of the huge balloon
above and the surrounding sky adjacent to the balloon which was black then
fell away to a deep blue. The sight was breathtaking and beautiful beyond
description,
Lee and I availed ourselves of the opportunity to survey our total situa-
tions Intently we inspected the rigging and our faithful balloon above. The
aerostat was fully extended and we noted that our altitude had stabilized at
approximately 79,500 feet indicated by the Wallace and Tiernan gaugeo However,
we were apparentltiy oscillating vertically with altitude changes varying from
79,200 feet to 79,500 feet. Although we dad not log it the period of this
motion seemed to be several minutes.
Next we took a full set of exterior Weston exposure meter readings through
the 10 ports and these are contained in Table 3. An exposure meter reading
inside the gondola read 3.2 on the Weston meter. At 081+0, after taking exposure
meter readings, I took black and white motion pictures of Lee Lewis using a
Paillard Bolex 16 mm movie camera. Since I was using Tri-X film with an
exposure index of 200, I set the f~3.5 lens wide open.
~A review of these subjective reactions was prepared under the title, A
Comparison of Artificial Environments Used in Sealed Cabins During Balloon
Flights into the Stratosphere, for Man s Environment in Space, a point
session of the American Physiological Society and the American Astronautical
Society in conduction with the 125th Meeting of the American Association for
the Advancement of Science, Washington, D. C., 31 Dec 1958.
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The rigging above appeared taut and there was no perceptible differential
motion between the gondola and the balloon. We did notice, however, that one
suspension member from the gondola to the lower harness of our cargo parachute
was twisted 90?. This had no apparent effect on the suspension. The balloon,
of course, was beautiful. It was full and taut and reflected the sunlight so
that it was a source of light from above. Tb.e polyethylene glistened in the
sunlight and looked almost like metal. The tapes appeared to be perfect and
no imperfections were noted. Looking through the balloon, and through two
thicknesses of polyethylene, it was possible to see the red inflation tubes
which extended downward from near the crown.
It was also quite obvious that the stresses were not perfectly oriented,
probably because our load exceeded the design load for the balloon. We noticed
a slight bulge near the bottom of the balloon. It appeared to be a restriction
which went around the entire circumference of the balloon in a horizontal plane
near the base. We discussed this and concluded at that time that our particular
load was the upper safe limit for this balloon design. On Strato-Lab High #2,
in October of 1957, I had noticed this same circumferential indication of stress
and had remarked to Lee about it after the flighto On that flight, however, it
had appeared merely as a shadow rather than the marked change in shape that we
observed on Strato-Lab High #3? It appeared to me that the difference between
the two was an obvious result of the load differential.
Breakfast, although seemingly an inconsequential event, consisted of a ham
sandwich and a cheese sandwich plus coffee for each of ~xs. It was at this time
we discovered that the candy bars ordered for our in-flight rations had somehow
been overlooked:
We were east of Mille Lacs moving in a direction which seemed generally to
be toward the west. Since we were rotating a bit, it was difficult to determine
our ground path by dead reckoning, but it appeared that we either hung over one
spot for a period of time or our travel included a closed loop. Later, when we
saw the radar plot of our trajectory, the loop at this point was borne out. The
ground was beautiful in its own typically drab way. From this altitude, as Lee
and I have noted before, colors become subdued and the terrain is characterized
by an overall pastel tone. During this particular portion of the flight, over
the heavily forested and rich green farming country of Minnesota, we noted that
the pastel color was a grey-green.
Cumulus clouds, fleecy and white, dotted the landscape below. They appeared,
as always, to be puffs of cotton oriented in rows as if mother nature tended the
clouds like a shepherd tends his flock. From a meteorological point of view this
is interesting. Not important, perhaps, but at the time I wondered what the true
physical explanation was for the geometrical pattern of clouds arranged in rows
extending for miles.
The horizon and sky looked familar. It was a scene breathtaking in beauty,
one we had seen before from our Strato-Lab gondola. Because of the clouds on
the horizon and the ever present dust and suspended contaminants below the tro-
popause, there was no opportunity to see a sharp well defined line marking the
rim of the earth and the sky above. It was a pity because we could see for
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almost 300 miles in all directionso Iai~uedis.tely above the hazy horizon was the
bright white band which, presumably, terminated at or e.bout the tropopause
approximately 35,0?0 feett). Above the band of wffiite, the blue res.lly begen.
Rirst it was a light delicate 'blue, then a sky blue above, and in an ever
darkening luxe the blue color changed through many shades of ethereaY beauty
tap to the edge of the balloon. At this angle, about 1805 degrees from the
zenith, the sky appess?ed black. I,ee and I scratched our ch?ns to describe
this color, as we have done before, and decided that the blue tones had van-
ished completely and nothing but a black void remainedo We fully recognized
that our subjective impression of the "blackness" was possibly affected by
the balloon itself because of its high degree of brigffitness~
F?or a few minutes we noted the heading of our compass and our rotational
instability was apparento We checked our spirit type levels, which were
arranged e.t 90c to each other, and noted that they remained uneffianged whioh
was an indication that the change in our vertical axis was apparently negli-
gibleo Rotation, however, was another matter and t;`xe seven readings taken
with our compass at 30 second intervals are listed in Table ~+~
is
Inside we were comfortable. Thisfa simple description of our general
feeling but this reflected our own personal triumph as well as appropriate
guidance by our medical personnel and the conscientious capability of the
engineers who had developed our systemo We walked around in ~,,he gondola
freely with our parachutes and bail-out kits remaining in our seatso Bard
hats, helmets and gloves were off, restrictive zippers were releaseda The
temperature was a comfortable 750? and our humidity was under ~ Our C02
was low (although an annoying incident with the wryer precluded its use).
The total pressure in the gondola was equivalent to about 1,000 feet. In
brfef, we had a keen sense of awareness that we were ttxe first people ever
to take our natural sea level environment with us to high altitude. It was
no wonder that we were comfortable. This was an environment to which we
were physiologically adaptedo
As we moved about in the cabin, manually controlling the ;Ffrewel valve
to keep our total cabin pressure near sea level, looked over our equipment,
gazed through the various ports pup, out and down) to take readings, to make
measurements, the~?e was a certain awareness of o~xx? isolation> Not to a great
extent, perhaps We were too comfortable for that But that strange sensation
of detachment from the earth, a sense of remoteness, a feeling of isolation was
ever present. There was nothing unpleasant shout this; if anything it was
exhilaratingo Radio contact with our colleagues many miles below did nothing
to destroy this feeling, We knew they were on or near the surface of the earth
We were physically detached.
Irife became routine. We made necessary ad,~ustments to regulate our pressure,
watched our many dial indicators, checked our voltmeter and shifted to additional
battery packs s.s necessary. bate in the morning I took a series of photographs
with the Contax 35 mm camera which had an f/~.0 .lens with a focal length of 50 mm.
bight readings came firsto booking outside I obtained a Weston exposure meter
reading which varied from 300 to x+00. Inside the maximum light valve was about
3.2 and 2>~+ was the minimum in the shadowsa These readings were followed with a
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series of photographs of the clouds and the ground which I took with a shutter
speed of 1500 of a second with lens openings of 5.6 to 8.0. Tbese photographs
were taken through our Plexiglass ports with no filter on the len.e Next I took
a few pictures of Lee at work sitting in his seat with a shut'azer speed of 1100
sec. with lens openings varying from 208 to ~+.0. After these photographs, I
attached a sky light filter and took a few exterior exposures of the ground,
clouds, and skyo
Lee was still perplexed with the NOTS equipment for obtaining measurements
with the sky photometer and radiometers $e had given up trying to make the
humidity indicator operate, but continued toying with the chart recorder in a
vain attempt to acquire some reasonable sensitivity so photometer and radiometer
readings could be madeo The sky photometer, however, never gave a reading which
moved the pen arm off reference Radioaneter readings were erratic and the instru-
ment appeared to be completely unstableo
Each hour on the hour we took a complete log of our environmental conditions
and reported these by radio to Dr. Barr in the Navy R5D aircrafto After lunch,
which was remarkably similar to 'breakfast, by prior arrangement we went "on the
air" with a television program at 1300. For approximately 15 minutes we simp],lr
rambled with Lee serving as camera man while I narrated, then we reversed the
procedure. The "program", we were told, was carried "live" by KSTP-TV in Minnea-
polis and, perhaps, some other stations on the NBC networko It was probably one
of the strangest programs that a television audience had ever seen and it is
probably the only time that amateurs have handled the duties of producers,
directors, camera men, announcers and, admittedly, "actors"o
Soon after the television program I obtained some interior readings of 35
with the Weston exposure meter and took some Super Ansco~;hrome photographs with
the Contax camera at a shutter speed of 1100 and lens opening of 5.6. A sub-
sequent review of these photographs indicated, however, that the interior light
was inadequate for my camera setting so I must have not been careful enough with
the exposure meter. Also in the early afternoon I took a couple of brightness
readings with the Luckiesh-Taylor brightness meter without the polaroid attach-
ment and then followed this with a pair of readings with the polaroid attachment
in place. These may be found in Table 5. Yn order to interpret the brightness
readings obtained with the Luckiesh-Taylor and Weston meters a representative
group of positions are listed in Table 60
We noticed that the cumulus clouds below were showing vertical developunent
and streaks of cirrus at, or about, the tropopause were obscuring a portion of
the low cumulus. These scenes of the changing cloud cover, of course, were
recorded on films Almost directly correlated with local noon and with the in-
creasing cloud cover below was an instability of the ball.aon. We started to
lase altitude at a fairly slow rate.
At 1350 CD-r Lee stsa~ted acquit?ing some sensible reactions from the N(71'S
equipment. Just about the time that it appeared we would be able to take some
readings, the equipment seemed to fade out againo The only sensible appearing
reading that we obtained was from the albedometer. In mid afternoon more ex-
terior brightness measurements were made and I took another reading inside,
The best average value inside seemed to be about 3.2, but this ran to a maximum
of about 25 on the scale when an object was in the direct sunlight which flooded
through a port.
By 1800 we had dropped from our initial ceiling of X9,500 feet to an alti-
.t..a.. r n)~ inn r.,~~ T.~ ~..ee +w.e?e~~,,.e Ao.e~.ieA +rs ~+~r+ rirnnnfina h?~llac+._ Aatf
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of our #1 (main) power pack, therefore, was dropped as ballast at 1815. This 50
pounds arrested our descent momentarily but it was soon obvious that we required
more ballast. At 1825 we released power pack #1 from the TV power supply, which
represented another 50 pounds. It was apparent that we were losing our battle
with radiation changes caused by decreased solar treat and ~.ncreased aloud cover.
At 1900 we were down to 70,500 feet and dropped a third 5n pound battery which
was #2 from the main power.
Despite our three ballast drops, totaling 150 pounds, we kept losing altitude.
The slur, the horizon, and the clouds below were beautiful., Long before a solid
cirrostratus undercoat had completely dominated the scene below. By now, however,
with the sun low in the western horizon, towering tops of huge cumulonimbus had
pierced through the tropopause and were standing ma,~estically in the stratosphere.
It was a gorgeous sighto But it was also an eerie one and we recognized that the
solid cloud layer was trapping radiation reflected by the earth and had worsened
our situation with respect to super heat of the balloon gas and had increased the
requirement for ballasting,
About 19+5 CDT that evening I made a complete (for the third time) record of
the light values at the 10 ports with a Weston faster III exposure metero This
was followed by two additional readings with the Luckiesh-Taylor brightness meter
with the last of these being made precisely at 2000 CDTo Our altitude was now
69,000 feet. Lee and I estimated that the tops of the towering cumulus clouds
rose to about 55,000 feet or higher. They were indeed, well into the stratosphere.
At 2016 CDT, we dropped another 50 pound battery. This was battery #2 from
the television auxiliary power source. A few minutes later we took a series of
omni-range bearings to ascertain our position and we concluded that we were near
the tri-state border of North Dakota, South Dakota and ~.nnesCta. The Jamestown,
North Dakota, radio also reported passage of a cold front was due during the
night. We concluded that this was the meteorological situation we were then
viewing from above and we should pass right over the front and land the next
morning behind it. It was somewhat of a surprise to us, however, that the
frontal system had not been forecast by our meteorologists and this information
provided prior to - or even during - the flight.
Since our slow descent had still not been arrested, another 50 pound battery
(#3 f~?om the television power) was dropped at 2025 CDT; this was followed 5 minutes
later by battery #4 from the same power source. A total of 3'30 pounds of batteries
had now been expended as ballast. Our altitude now seemed t;o have stabilized fairl.,y
well although the sun had not set yet. We were still very comfortable with our in-
ternal temperature of 86oF at 2100 CDT so we spent some time taking photographs and
looking at the ever darkening scene below. The clouds were eactx?emel~r fascinating
and it appeared to us that we were over the central portion of the frontal system.
Clouds extended to the horizon in all directions below. D;uge mountain like cumulus
turbulent structures punched up into the stratosphereo These, we knew, were tops
of cumulonimbus clouds which, in the troposphere below, were actually violent
thunderstorms
By now it was getting close to sunset and the gondola was oriented so that my
back was toward the west. I took a Pew more brightness measurements with the
Luckiesh-Taylor meter, then settled down wfth a camera near me to photograph -
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hopefully - the elusive green flash from the setting sun. Lee was likewise in
readiness with a movie camera. I watched the sun very closely through a quite
dense red filter in the hope that I would see spiBUla or solar flares. I saw
none. The solar limb appeared quite smooth, the sun itself only slightly
oblateo Some thin cloud bands appeared to be in the western stratosphereo
Since it was obvious that there were a few minutes left before sunset, I put
the dense red filter down and straightened up in my seat to relax a minute.
Thus I gazed out our large (9" diameter) port toward the east and was amazed
to see, at precisely 2125 CDT, that tenuous clouds with shadowy structures
seemed to be welling up around us toward the east. I called to Lee that here
was the "earth shadow" and he, too, was greatly impressed with the thin band
of clouds which seemed to engulf us and extend toward the easto We were at
70,000 feet at the time.
Lee took the 16 nnn motion camera and tried to shoot the scene in Kodachromeo
I made a fast exposure meter reading toward the east and used the Contax camera
at a shutter speed of 150 sec. with lens opening of f/2o3 using Super Ansco-
chrame film. I took several exposures of the eerie appearing clouds which were
at our level and seemed to recede toward the east with timeo The clouds were
dark with a faint tinge of rose color. I turned back to the sunset and watched
the upper limb of the sun sink below the western horizon at 2130 CDT. There was
no apparent green flash so I looked back toward the east and noticed that the
thin clouds were still observable but had apparently moved same distance from
us toward the east. I took another photographa*
This was all very strange, of Bourse, because there had been no indication
of particles of any type in our atmosphere until the angular position of the sun
was such that the optical phenomenon appeared. It was onl,~r a few minutes after
sunset that Lee and I noticed the clouds below were providing a gorgeous elec-
trical display. Lightning extended radially in all directions from the tops of
the towering cumulus type clouds, also kept the interior of the tops well lighted,
and the display was simply magnificant. Iran out of fiLn at about this time. I
did try a couple of black and white and a color shot using exposures of several
seconds but subsequent observation of the results was disappointing. Lee took
movies and these, too, did not Batch the lightning we saw.
A few minutes after sunset - at 2138 CDT - I tried repeated]~y to drop another
one of the television batteries as ballast. There was some kind of electx?ical
failure in the release system, however, and I was unsuccessful. At 21+5 CDT,
therefore, I shifted over to the main power supply and dropped half of power pack
~2 which was a 50 pound drop. We had now expended 350 pounds of ballast in the
form of batteries. By 2200 our altitude was 68,500 feet and we were sinking back
~A detailed account of the high thin clouds, High Clouds Observed in the Stratosphere
at Sunset, was prepared for presentation at the 39th Annual Meeting of the American
Meteorological Society, 28 January 1959, N. Y., NoY.
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toward the ominous clouds below so we started to use some of our shot ballast
from the double hoppers mounted on the exterior undercarriage We ran this
until 2212 and expended 84 pounds of shot ballast. We watched the situation
quite carefully and at 2230 dropped another 14 pounds of steel shot ballast
making a total of 98 pounds of shot ballast expendedo Our total ballast up
to this time was 448 poundso It appeared that we were holding and that our
altitude, about 70,000 feet, was satisfactory, so we started one of the sub-
~ect flash cameras and ran it for 1~2 houre
At 15 minutes before midnight, since we had done quite a bit of moving
around all through the flight, we decided to devote a half hour of motionless
sitting so that the Johns Hopkins star camera would obtain a good record of
the gondola stabilityfl Our altitude was increasing and we were finally going
back toward pressure ceiling once againo The temperature had gotten much
cooler so we put on our packets and got into our 'potato sacks" to keep warmo
At 0130 we set up a small telescope and scintillation analyzer provided
by A~ H. Mikesell oP the U. S~ Naval Observatory It was quite simple to
set uP and Lee had it in position at our large port in a very few minuteso
I had the control panel and when the power was turned on there was no DC
supply so, regretfull3r, we could not use it. Lee looked through the tele-
scope for awhile and then stowed the equipment away againo
From 0235 until about 0430 CDT, 27 July, we drew up the "potato sacks"
around our waists, pulled our 3ackets down, huddled together under a wool
blanket provided by Dr. Barr, and slept peacefullyo The temperature dropped
to about 40oF. It was (probably during this time when we were both quiet,
that the Johns Hopkins automatic star camera obtained star trail records
which indicated gondola motions which were within the capability of the Strong
telescope system to stay on the target 13arso
By the time we awakened, our altitude had increased to about 80,000 feet
and the sun had risen. After our nice little nap we were somewhat embarrassed
that we had slept so long. It would have been wonderful t? have seen the sun-
riseo We both wanted to but had peaceful7~r slept right on through and the sun
was above the horizon when we threw back our blankets, yawned, looked at each
other, and became aware of our situations
Our minimum temperature occurred at about 0600. It was 350 and quite
chillyo Our position was between Bismarck and Jamestown, North Dakotan WP
were behind the front and we could see post-frontal clouds below and to the
west. booking toward the east we could see the back side of the front over
which we had flown but a few hours beforeo It was truly a magnificent sceneo
Very soon after awakening we checked in with our tx?acking group below and
started reporting our hourly observations again. The partial pressure of
oxygen had increased considerably; otherwise we were in very fine shape.
It remained cold in the gondola so we kept our packets and potato sacks on
throughout the early morning hourso We had a leisurely breakfast, with much
the same menu as our meals the dsy before, a good drink of water, and felt
refreshed -- ready for the day
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 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/05/02 :CIA-RDP78-03642A001300030064-4
By 0900 we reached the peak altitude of our flight, which was 82,000 feet,
and we were quite near Bismarck, North Dakotan We co,~ld see the Missouri river
down below with bends and turns as far as the eye could see and the low cumulus
clouds had the geometrical. arrangement described earlier We therefore took
several pictures before descendinga One picture I took established uur farthest
west position as directly over the Missouri river in North Dakota and near Bismarcke
At 1025, at an altitude of 81,500 feet, I started valuing with both valves
open 30 seconds later our altitude was 81,400 feet and Lee opened the valve
for air sample bottle #1 (A) and closed the valve at 81,200 feet. I kept the
double balloon valve open for a total of 4 minutes, waited for awhile to see
whether or not we had established a reasonable descent rate, decided that we
had not, so at 80,000 feet opened the double valve again for 2 minuteso At
1046 CDT, at an altitude of 79,000 feet, I valved for an additional 2 minuteso
At 1059 CDT, at 76,800 feet, I opened the double valve again for a total of 1
minute. Dux?ing this interval, Lee obtained his second sstnple of air for the
Naval Ordnance Test Station, China Lake. It was taken at .7059 CDT and he
opened the valve at 76,500 feet then closed the valve at 76,300 feet? This was
air sample ~2 (B). The #3 stainless steel flask was not usable since the valve
had been broken prior to installation on the gondola
At 1122 our altitude was 73,50? feet and our rate of descent didn?t seem
quite adequate so I used the double valve far an additional 2 minutes making a
total of 11 minutes all together that I h.ad valvedo Since condit-Lons had
warmed up a bit in the gondola, we rolled up our potato sacks and stowed them
for landingo Also, before starting down, we had faithfully put on the pressure
suit helmets and had helped each other into our hard hatso So we were on our
way down wearing the full version of our pressure suits, dust as we had taken
off o
During the early portion of the descent Lee again attempted to operate the
Naval Ordnance Test Station equi~nento It was impossible to read the radiometer
in the manner planned; however, at 68,000 feet Lee read 80G at the 135o position
for the zero using the 100 scale At 67,500 feet he attempted to read the 900
position but had very little success, since the zero was off Therefore, he was
able to bring the indicator to zero on the 900 pos~.tion with the 3 adjustment
switches set, respectively, at 3, 4, and 805. When he attempted to read the
position 600 from the zenith at an altitude of 66,000 feet, the situation was
much the same, off scale Therefore, he zeroed with the coarse indicator 207,
the medium indicator at 3 and the fine adjustment at Oa For full scale he read
207 on the coarse scale, 3~5 on the medium scale and 0 on the fine That was
the final series of readings that we attempted with the radiometer because it
was apparent to us that the z?eadings were of quest~.onable, if any, value.
Air sample #4 (D) was obtained at 1130 CDT when Lee opened the valve at
71,500 feet then closed it at 71,300 feet. At 1208 I opened the double valve
again for 1 minute at an altitudQ of 63,800 feeto At 61,000 feet at 1222 CDT
I valved for another 2 minutes making a total of .14 minutes all together using
the double valve ~Y last log notation was made at 1300 when we were at an
altitude of 46,600 feet and at the time our indicated rate of descent was about
400 feet per minuteo
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 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/05/02 :CIA-RDP78-03642A001300030064-4
w ~
It is my opinion that we accelerated very little w}ien we wentr through the
tropopause although it is quite probable our r?s.te of clesL,ent mad have increased
to approximately 600 feet per mf,nute ~ Below the tropopayase t?r ied to drop
ballast 'to reduce the rate of" descent, but had trouble witYx the power pack
ballast dropso I therefore ran aut the rest of the shot balln.s* and dropped
at least one 5CJ pound batter~r par?K~ The #g main power supply ~a double battery
pack of 100 pounds would not dropo 'There was also one ather 5~ pound battery
pack from the mein power suppl.~r ~ah~ch would not release When these were
coupled with television power ps.cks ~, #6, and ~', we had 3Ci0 pounds of ballast
which 'was unusable This failure f.n the electrical system was suite annoying at
the timeo
By the time ~*e reached low alt:~tude we knew we had nL~ f'u,~ther ballast con-
tx?ol and were, therefore, committed to land with the rate of descent we bade
A1tYxough it was not excessive, perhaps 300 to 400 feet per minute, we had a
hasty conference and Lee jettisoned our two thermos jugs and our auxiliary
helium bottleo This was easily accomplished because we hs.d egxalf,zed our
internal pressure with the ambient pressure at about 15,000 feet and had then
opened our lower escape hatcho After doing this he bxx?e1y got back to the
seat and strapped in with his seat belt when we bite I+ was a jarring thud
and we pushed our twin cut-off switches Ito release the ba:Aloony~ but nothing
happenedo It was a truly horrible feeling to realize we had.landed"' but
could not terminate the flight
For a few seconds, which seemed like an eternity, we dragged on the ground
and then started to rise o L~:ter ~?e d.iscovered that two of our reluctant battery
packs were deposited on the ground and we rose againo We ~.s~?.ended to an altitude
of between 4,000 and 5,000 feet whf.le we discussed the situation, tightened. our
seat belts, had a cigarette, and evaluated the various alternativese These in-
cluded another try at a normal landing and cut off, a try wt releasing ourselves
with the cargo parachute, bailing out in our personal chates, or simply valuing
the balloon down We decided on another try at a normal landing-,
At .1521 CDI' our problem was solvedo We touched the gz?c.>und again, bounced,
dragged a bi.t, then the t;ermf.nation switch worked with a delayed action The
gondola rolled on its slide and my back ws.s on the gondola sidF which was downo
Lee, likewise, was suspended. bar his seat belto Potassium hydroxf.cle, which leaked
out of the air conditioner, dripped on me and C~ee catxtinne3 me tc remain motionless
while he released himself and scrambled down to help me escape the steady dripping
of caustic solution In a few minutes we were both free and stepped out of the
gondola to 'be greeted a few minutes Z.ater by Dr~ F"t^ank Standsert :end a Navy medical
Corpsman wha were brought to our s.~wcl by helicoptex? piloted, b~f l/Lt~ Peterson, USMCR,
of the Na~na.l Air. Sts.ton, M:~nneapoli.s e A short time later ~n Foster arrived to
take custody o? the gondola and we aeparted by helf~opter f'or i.h,e near?est town,
Jamestown, North I~kots.~
After a marvelous f'~..2 gbt ?~:f' ~4 hoax?s and 40 m~.nutes StY: ata-Cab High #3 was
histort'`o
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 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/05/02 :CIA-RDP78-03642A001300030064-4
~ i
Table 1
Record of Gondola Environmental Conditions, 26-27 July 1958,
during Flight of Strato-Lab High #3?
Time gondola Ambient Relative Dry
(CDT) Internal Altitude Humidity Bulb
Alt.(ft) (ft) Meter(s) (oF)
0415
7~
0430 --- --- 72 ---
0430 Turned on air regeneration equipment
0441 launch
0451 760 10,000 --
0503 760 20,000 45
0516 Soo 30,000 44
0529 9?0 40,000 43
0551 1100 50,000 41
0604 1160 60,000 40
0630 1100 70,000 40
0654 Arrived at 79,000 feet
0700 1070 79,E ~
0805 1000 79,5 38
0900 900 79,200 36
0920 Vented gondola internal pressure
1000 860 79~2~ 35
1100 790 79,5 33
--- Vented with Firewel
1200 1000 79,5
1300 850 79,5
1315 ~ 79,200
1400 920
1500 820
1600 1000
1700 920
1800 980
1900 940
2000 930
2100 940
2200 1280
2300 1600
2400 1820
0100 2000
0400 2200
0500 2160
0600 2100
0700 1740
0800 1260
0900 1020
1000 980
1025 Valved. to
1100 1000
1200 1000
1300 1000
1521 Landed
76,500
76, 5~
74,200
70, 5~
69,000
71,000
68,500
70 ~ 5~
76,500
80,500
80, 500
80,000
81,000
81,500
81,500 62
82,000 62
81,500 62
initiate descent
80
81
74
75
74
63 53
65,000 62 55
46,600 63 55
Wet
Bulb
(OF,)
pC~ C
(mmSg) (~
Oxygen Converters
liters/lbs press.
nAw nBn
---
155
0.6
5.0/82
4.95/76
---
158
0.3
158
0.3
5.0/82
4.9/76
68
158
0.3
5.0/82
4.9/76
---
159
0.2
5.0/82
4.9/76
---
159
---
5.0/82
4.9/77
---
160
---
5.0/82
4.9/77
---
160
---
5.0/82
409/77
57.5
160
---
5.0/82
4.8/77
56
162
---
4.9/82
4.8/77
56
170
---
4.8/82
4.7/78
~ewel va
lve
from 800 to 900 feet
170
---
4.9/82
4.2/78
58
172
---
4.9/82
4.2/78
60
170
---
4.9/82
4.2/78
60
175
---
4.9/82
4.1/78
64
175
---
4.9/82
4.1/78
65
175
---
4.8/82
4.1/78
65
175
---
4.8/82
401/78
65
175
---
4.7/82
4.05/78
65
175
---
4.6/82
4.0/78
65
1?5
---
4.5/82
4.0/78
65
180
---
4.6/82
3.9/78
66
180
---
4.5/82
3.8/78
68
185
---
4,4/82
3.8/78
63
185
---
4.4/82
3.7/78
55
185
---
4.4/82
3.6/78
53
185
---
4.3/82
3.6/78
48
195
---
4.2/82
3.6/78
39
215
---
4.2/82
3.2/78
33.5
225
---
4.2/82
3.1/78
3~-
250
---
4.1%82
2.9/77
35
260
---
4.1/82
2.9/77
40
265
---
4.0/82
2.8/77
42
265
---
3.9/82
2.8/77
45
270
---
4.0/82
2.5/78
48
265
---
4.0/82
2.5/78
48
270
---
3.9/82
2.3/78
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 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/05/02 :CIA-RDP78-03642A001300030064-4
Tab~.e 2
Readings made with Naval Ordnance Test Station Radiometer
Altitude, 75,000 feet (MSL) at 0645 CDT, 26 July 195?s
(Degrees from Zenith)
Reading Ad3ustment
Adjustment
Ad3ustment Used
Reference
Zero 0
6.1
5.5
~ 100
Full 0
5.6
5.5
f 100
Nadir
Zero 0
6.7
5.5
~ 100
.ill 0
6,4
5.5
? 100
135o
Zero 0
6.7
5.5
~ 100
F~1.1 0
6.3
5.5
f 100
90?
Zero 0
6,6
5,5
m 100
111 0
6.2
5.5
- 100
60?
Zero 0
4.2
5.5
- 100
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 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/05/02 :CIA-RDP78-03642A001300030064-4
Table 3
Readings with Weston (MASTER III) ~posure Meter on 26 July 1958:
Time
Port
True
Angle
Scale
Alt
(CDT)
Used
Az.
From
Zenith
Reading
(MSL)
0818
6
052
114
600
799500
0819
9
140
113.,5
350
79500
0821
5
043
45
175
799500
0824
3
055
33
1400
798200
0825
8
169
117.5
200
799300
0827
10
150
90
300
79,500
0828
2
132
35
50
79,500
0829
7
222
114
400
79,400
0829
4
240
34.5
25
799400
0829
1
---
0
250
798500
1515
1
---
0
800
769700
1516
2
168
35
100
76,700
1518
3
034
33
30
76,700
1519
4
308
34.5
100
769700
1520
5
004
45
80
768700
1521
6
008
114
700
76,600
1522
7
279
114
500
768500
1523
8
184
117:5
300
768500
1524
9
051
1T3o5
500
76,500
1525
10
173
90
350
76,500
1946
1
---
0
100
69,500
1946
2
020
35
30
69,500
1946.5
3
235
33
45
699500
1947
4
142
34.5
35
699500
1947
5
186
45
50
69,500
1947,5
6
185
114
500
69,500
1948
7
090
114
400
699500
1948.5
8
000
117.5
300
699500
1949
9
260
113.5
1200
69,500
1950
10
350
90
350
699500
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 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/05/02 :CIA-RDP78-03642A001300030064-4
Table 4
Rscord of Rotation from Compass Headings Versus Time.
Time (CDT
Compass Heading (De~ees)
0855x30
138
0856
140
0856:30
142
0857
140.5
0857:30
136
0858
131
0858x30
127
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 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/05/02 :CIA-RDP78-03642A001300030064-4
Table 5
Brightness measurements with Luckiesh-Taylor on 26 July 1958
Time
(CDT)
Port
Used
True
Az.
Angle Scale
mom Value
Zenith
Filter Brightness
Screen (F-L) ~
Alt.
(MSL)
WITS POLAROID
1430
l0
34o
go Max 43.8
loo
Max 760
77,5
Min 43.5
Min 750
1447
3
085
33 Max 11.2
to
Max 14.5
77,100
Min 9.9
Min 13._0
WITHO[Tr ~ POLAROID
1352
2
116
35 5?
loo
90
78,500
1400
8
075
117.5 10.8
100
178
78,200
1957
2
310
35 4.95
loo
82
69,000
2000
8
010
117.5 2.0
loo
33.5
69,0
2110
10
1g0
90 7.1
100
117
70,000
2114
2
154
35 4.65
10
6.1
70,000
2115
3
355
33 4.9
l0
6.4
70,000
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 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/05/02 :CIA-RDP78-03642A001300030064-4
Table
Nadir Positions of Flight a.zt Representa~ive Times During 2F July 1'358
Time (CDT
Latitude
Longitude
0818
46 01 ?N
92.9oVP
0829
46, 2?N
93.1?VIT
1352#
46. SoN
94 a 9?1~f
1400
46.5?N
94.9oti'V
1430
46 . SQN
94.9o~'P
1447 ~
46, SoN
94, 9o9P
1515
46. ~?N
95.5oVP
1525
46,4oN
95,6
1946
46 , 4?N
96.8?VP
2000
46.6?N
960 7O1JP
2110
46.6oN
96e1o'~
2115
46. SoN
95 0 8o1'P
%~ Appeared to be orbiting according to radar data
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