Timothy T. Lachenmeier
He is a mechanical engineer and high altitude balloon designer and President of
Near Space Corporation, a balloon company in Oregon. He earned a Mechanical
Engineering degree at Portland State University in 1985 and entered the field of
computer-aided balloon design. As Raven Industries he became a scientific high
altitude balloon designer and participating in a number of projects for NASA and
other federal agencies. In 1990 he was heavily involved in the design, testing and
making of the air-ballasted double balloons of the Project Earthwinds, a manned
project to circumnavigate the globe. After retiring from Raven he started his own
balloon company in 1995 called Global Solutions for Science and Learning, Inc.,
which in 2006 became Near Space Corporation with headquarters in Tillamook,
Oregon. He hold the patents for an inflatable and deployable system with threedimensionally reinforced membranes and a system for tactical balloon launch and
payload return.
Andrew Lange
Born July 23, 1957
Died January 22, 2010
288 Appendix 2: Scientists and Engineers in Ballooning
He is a mechanical engineer and high altitude balloon designer and President of
Near Space Corporation, a balloon company in Oregon. He earned a Mechanical
Engineering degree at Portland State University in 1985 and entered the field of
computer-aided balloon design. As Raven Industries he became a scientific high
altitude balloon designer and participating in a number of projects for NASA and
other federal agencies. In 1990 he was heavily involved in the design, testing and
making of the air-ballasted double balloons of the Project Earthwinds, a manned
project to circumnavigate the globe. After retiring from Raven he started his own
balloon company in 1995 called Global Solutions for Science and Learning, Inc.,
which in 2006 became Near Space Corporation with headquarters in Tillamook,
Oregon. He hold the patents for an inflatable and deployable system with threedimensionally reinforced membranes and a system for tactical balloon launch and
payload return.
Andrew Lange
Born July 23, 1957
Died January 22, 2010
288 Appendix 2: Scientists and Engineers in Ballooning