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Acknowledgments
A special thanks to the reviewers of my initial proposal to Springer-Praxis and
to people who contributed to the book: Dr. James L. Rand, former President of
Winzen Engineering and Professor of Aerospace Engineering at Texas A&M;
Henry M.  Cathey, New Mexico State University’s Physical Science
Laboratory; and I.  Steve Smith, Southwest Research Institute. Together they
have almost a century of science and engineering ballooning experience. They
in turn led me to engineer Dwight Bawcom, former site manager of the National
Scientific Balloon Facility, who reviewed much of the text. These men spent
their careers supporting both the Air Force and the NASA Balloon Programs and
have traveled the world supporting scientists and launching balloons into the
stratosphere.
Also, many thanks to the following scientists and engineers (listed in alphabetical order) who answered my questions and provided input for the book:
Prof. W. Robert Binns
SuperTIGER balloon mission
Washington University in St. Louis
Jessie L. Crain
NSF Office of Polar Programs
Alexandria, VA
Prof. Peter Gorham
ANITA balloon mission
University of Hawaii Manoa
Dr. John M. Grunsfeld
NASA astronaut and Chief Scientist