Project Manhigh
Encyclopedia
Project Manhigh along with Project Excelsior
was a pre-Space Age
military project that took men in balloons
to the middle layers of the Earth’s stratosphere.
were made during the program:
With the pilot and the scientific payload, the Manhigh II gondola had a total mass of 748 kg (1,649.1 lb). At maximum altitude, the balloon expanded to a diameter of 60 m (196.9 ft) with a volume of over 85000 m³ (111,175.8 cu yd).
A similar project in which a man in a gondola reached an altitude of 15785 m (51,788.1 ft) was performed in 1931 by the Swiss physicist Auguste Piccard
.
Project Excelsior
Project Excelsior was a series of high-altitude parachute jumps made by Colonel Joseph Kittinger of the United States Air Force in 1959 and 1960 to test the Beaupre multi-stage parachute system...
was a pre-Space Age
Space Age
The Space Age is a time period encompassing the activities related to the Space Race, space exploration, space technology, and the cultural developments influenced by these events. The Space Age is generally considered to have begun with Sputnik...
military project that took men in balloons
Balloon (aircraft)
A balloon is a type of aircraft that remains aloft due to its buoyancy. A balloon travels by moving with the wind. It is distinct from an airship, which is a buoyant aircraft that can be propelled through the air in a controlled manner....
to the middle layers of the Earth’s stratosphere.
History
The project started in December 1955 to study the effects of cosmic rays on humans. Three balloon flights to the stratosphereStratosphere
The stratosphere is the second major layer of Earth's atmosphere, just above the troposphere, and below the mesosphere. It is stratified in temperature, with warmer layers higher up and cooler layers farther down. This is in contrast to the troposphere near the Earth's surface, which is cooler...
were made during the program:
- Manhigh I to 29,500 m (96,784 feet), by Captain Joseph W. KittingerJoseph KittingerJoseph William Kittinger II is a former Command Pilot and career military officer in the United States Air Force. He is most famous for his participation in Project Manhigh and Project Excelsior, holding the records for having the highest, fastest and longest skydive, from a height greater than...
II (1928–) on June 2, 1957, - Manhigh II to 30,900 m (101,516 feet), by MajorMajorMajor is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
David Simons (1922–2010) on August 19–20, 1957 for a 32-hour flight, - Manhigh III to 29,900 m (98,097 feet), by LieutenantLieutenantA lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
Clifton McClure on October 8, 1958.
With the pilot and the scientific payload, the Manhigh II gondola had a total mass of 748 kg (1,649.1 lb). At maximum altitude, the balloon expanded to a diameter of 60 m (196.9 ft) with a volume of over 85000 m³ (111,175.8 cu yd).
A similar project in which a man in a gondola reached an altitude of 15785 m (51,788.1 ft) was performed in 1931 by the Swiss physicist Auguste Piccard
Auguste Piccard
Auguste Antoine Piccard was a Swiss physicist, inventor and explorer.-Biography:Piccard and his twin brother Jean Felix were born in Basel, Switzerland...
.