300
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. von Ehrenfried, Stratospheric Balloons, Springer Praxis Books,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68130-2
Appendix 3
Interesting Stories
What does von Braun have to do with balloons?
When Wernher von Braun was testing V2’s at the White Sands Proving Ground
in New Mexico in 1946, this was managed by the Ballistic Research Laboratory
of the U.S. Army. They needed help with the flight test data taken from film. At
that time, mathematician Anna Gardiner and her physicist husband George set
up the Physical Sciences Laboratory (PSL) at New Mexico State University
(NMSU) to support the Army and von Braun’s tests. The contract was let on
May 15, 1946. In addition to supporting flight test, PSL recruited and training
student physicists, scientists, engineers, and mathematician who could and
often did enter the world of scientific ballooning, space exploration and
research.
From balloons to UFO’s
The first balloon launches of the USAF program took place in early June 1947,
under the guidance of a New York University team and with the support of the
newly created Balloon Operations Unit at Holloman AFB, NM. Project MOGUL
was a top secret plan that involved the launch of stratospheric balloons carrying
sensitive microphones, whose primary purpose was long-distance detection of
sound waves generated by Soviet atomic bomb tests. The project was carried out
from 1947 until early 1949. The project was moderately successful, but was very
expensive and ultimately was replaced by a network of seismic detectors and air
sampling for fallout residue.
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. von Ehrenfried, Stratospheric Balloons, Springer Praxis Books,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68130-2
Appendix 3
Interesting Stories
What does von Braun have to do with balloons?
When Wernher von Braun was testing V2’s at the White Sands Proving Ground
in New Mexico in 1946, this was managed by the Ballistic Research Laboratory
of the U.S. Army. They needed help with the flight test data taken from film. At
that time, mathematician Anna Gardiner and her physicist husband George set
up the Physical Sciences Laboratory (PSL) at New Mexico State University
(NMSU) to support the Army and von Braun’s tests. The contract was let on
May 15, 1946. In addition to supporting flight test, PSL recruited and training
student physicists, scientists, engineers, and mathematician who could and
often did enter the world of scientific ballooning, space exploration and
research.
From balloons to UFO’s
The first balloon launches of the USAF program took place in early June 1947,
under the guidance of a New York University team and with the support of the
newly created Balloon Operations Unit at Holloman AFB, NM. Project MOGUL
was a top secret plan that involved the launch of stratospheric balloons carrying
sensitive microphones, whose primary purpose was long-distance detection of
sound waves generated by Soviet atomic bomb tests. The project was carried out
from 1947 until early 1949. The project was moderately successful, but was very
expensive and ultimately was replaced by a network of seismic detectors and air
sampling for fallout residue.