with early technology launches, and then it went to full scale with more than 500
balloons being launched from several sites in the U.S. Of the hundreds of balloons
launched by the Balloon Branch, many crossed the Atlantic Ocean and managed to
reach the Azores in the Atlantic, North Africa, Spain, England and Norway.
Although MOBY DICK was widely recognized as a scientific project, another
which used much of the information gained on wind patterns had a more secret
twist, namely the development of a secret high resolution photographic camera
and several other devices under GOPHER, which was an element of a strategic
reconnaissance operation called GENTRIX with balloons being launched from
several cities in Europe to spy on the U.S.S.R.
Another important project carried out at Holloman was HIGH DIVE, a study of
high altitude escape systems. Dozens of balloon flights carried anthropomorphic
dummies to high altitudes and released them to test different types of parachutes
and to investigate the rate of spin acquired with conventional systems. Several of
these launches were conducted from remote locations around the base in order to
take advantage in different months of the prevailing winds to drop the dummies
inside the restricted areas of the White Sands Missile Range, NM.
A singular milestone was set in 1956 when the AF Balloon Branch assisted 20th
Century Fox in the making of the movie On The Threshold of Space. There were
guest appearances by Holloman personnel as extras in the film, and two balloon
flights were performed using a dummy spherical gondola dubbed “Skylight” to
obtain shots that later would be included in the movie. It seems this was the only
movie ever filmed in which stratospheric balloons were “main characters” of the plot.
You can watch the 1:34 hour movie On The Threshold of Space at:
https://youtu.be/7TIwDj2ZMWw
From the late 1950’s to early 1960’s various projects involved the execution of
manned balloon missions. Several low level flights to train personnel were also
conducted by the Air Force as part of the effort of MANHIGH, whose third and
final flight in 1958 was launched from Holloman. The following year, this base was
the focus of another manned program called EXCELSIOR, whose goal was to test
a new parachute system developed by Francis Baupre to enable aircrew to bail out
at high altitudes. After two more or less successful jumps in 1959, Capt. Joseph
W. Kittinger (who also piloted the first MANHIGH test in Minnesota in 1957) rode
a balloon to an altitude of 31 km (102,800 ft) on August 16, 1960 and jumped off
the open gondola. He plummeted towards the ground for more than 4 minutes
before opening his parachute at 5,486 m (18,000 ft). In doing so he set a new record.
Two years later, Kittinger participated in Project STARGAZER. This began in
1959 with the aim of studying astronomical phenomena from above 95% of the
atmosphere to get undistorted visual and photographic observations of the stars
and planets.
On December 13, 1962, Kittinger and astronomer William C. White ascended
to 25 km (82,200 ft) from Holloman. In addition to valuable telescope observations, the flight provided useful information for the development of pressure suits
226 The Balloon World
balloons being launched from several sites in the U.S. Of the hundreds of balloons
launched by the Balloon Branch, many crossed the Atlantic Ocean and managed to
reach the Azores in the Atlantic, North Africa, Spain, England and Norway.
Although MOBY DICK was widely recognized as a scientific project, another
which used much of the information gained on wind patterns had a more secret
twist, namely the development of a secret high resolution photographic camera
and several other devices under GOPHER, which was an element of a strategic
reconnaissance operation called GENTRIX with balloons being launched from
several cities in Europe to spy on the U.S.S.R.
Another important project carried out at Holloman was HIGH DIVE, a study of
high altitude escape systems. Dozens of balloon flights carried anthropomorphic
dummies to high altitudes and released them to test different types of parachutes
and to investigate the rate of spin acquired with conventional systems. Several of
these launches were conducted from remote locations around the base in order to
take advantage in different months of the prevailing winds to drop the dummies
inside the restricted areas of the White Sands Missile Range, NM.
A singular milestone was set in 1956 when the AF Balloon Branch assisted 20th
Century Fox in the making of the movie On The Threshold of Space. There were
guest appearances by Holloman personnel as extras in the film, and two balloon
flights were performed using a dummy spherical gondola dubbed “Skylight” to
obtain shots that later would be included in the movie. It seems this was the only
movie ever filmed in which stratospheric balloons were “main characters” of the plot.
You can watch the 1:34 hour movie On The Threshold of Space at:
https://youtu.be/7TIwDj2ZMWw
From the late 1950’s to early 1960’s various projects involved the execution of
manned balloon missions. Several low level flights to train personnel were also
conducted by the Air Force as part of the effort of MANHIGH, whose third and
final flight in 1958 was launched from Holloman. The following year, this base was
the focus of another manned program called EXCELSIOR, whose goal was to test
a new parachute system developed by Francis Baupre to enable aircrew to bail out
at high altitudes. After two more or less successful jumps in 1959, Capt. Joseph
W. Kittinger (who also piloted the first MANHIGH test in Minnesota in 1957) rode
a balloon to an altitude of 31 km (102,800 ft) on August 16, 1960 and jumped off
the open gondola. He plummeted towards the ground for more than 4 minutes
before opening his parachute at 5,486 m (18,000 ft). In doing so he set a new record.
Two years later, Kittinger participated in Project STARGAZER. This began in
1959 with the aim of studying astronomical phenomena from above 95% of the
atmosphere to get undistorted visual and photographic observations of the stars
and planets.
On December 13, 1962, Kittinger and astronomer William C. White ascended
to 25 km (82,200 ft) from Holloman. In addition to valuable telescope observations, the flight provided useful information for the development of pressure suits
226 The Balloon World