used to release the parachute from the payload was detonated. It took only 3 seconds for the motors to pull the safety pins but 7 seconds for the parachute to open
to take the load of the payload. The design at that time was that if the parachute
opened and there was a shear load on the pins from the payload weight, the clutch
on the motor would not pull the safety pins and release the payload. So in this situation the payload was in free fall for several seconds without a load on the safety
pins to prevent them from retracting. As a result, when the parachute opened up,
the payload was released and it free fell to the ground from 120,000 ft.
One of the side effects of this incident was to give some credence to the theory
that lightening can indeed travel upward from the clouds to space, phenomena
formally discovered several years later and actually widely known as “sprites”.
The most important aspect of the investigation was the change of NASA policy
regarding balloon flights over storms. Prior to this event, stratospheric balloons
often traveled over clouds without incident, with the only concern being loss of
height due to the albedo or temperature of the Earth below the balloon becoming
much colder and causing the gas to cool. After that, the policy was to not launch
balloons near thunderstorms unless they could terminate the balloon flight safely
before it reached the thunderstorm area. Also, NASA became more conservative
about launching a balloon if the high level wind forecast and the weather forecast
meant the balloon could approach a thunderstorm area.
As a footnote, after the Columbia reentry disaster in 2003 an article in several
newspapers theorized that the Shuttle was struck by a sprite before disintegrating.
In the final part of the article the author made mention of the balloon incident but
cited a wrong location of the impact site, saying that the payload impacted on “an
angry Dallas resident’s front yard” which was not true, the nearest dwelling was
about half a mile away from the crash point.
From home to Antarctica in only 36 hours!
This story is from Dr. Henry C. Dethloff’s 2012 book, “Exploring Near Space”.
Henry Cathey was the Vehicle Test Manager for the 2008-2009 Antarctic ULDB
test (see Section 2.4.2). He kept a travelogue of his experiences involving his trip
to Antarctica. He left his home on Wallops Island for the Salisbury, MD airport at
4:50 am on Thursday, December 3, 2008. He flew commercial from Salisbury to
Charlotte, NC then from Charlotte to Los Angeles, CA. After a nine hour layover
at the airport, he left Los Angeles at 9:00 pm. After a 12 hour 40 minute flight he
landed in Auckland, NZ. He said it was the longest day of his life, with little to no
sleep. As he cleared customs, a large crowd of Maori native people in ceremonial
garb and local folks gathered in the airport to cheer the arrival of the Los Angeles
“Galaxy” soccer team, scheduled for a big match in Auckland. He then boarded a
plane for Christchurch, NZ at 10:15 am on Friday, December 3rd; now (allowing
for the 18 hour time change) 36 hours after leaving home. After a little sleep, he
Appendix 3: Interesting Stories 305
to take the load of the payload. The design at that time was that if the parachute
opened and there was a shear load on the pins from the payload weight, the clutch
on the motor would not pull the safety pins and release the payload. So in this situation the payload was in free fall for several seconds without a load on the safety
pins to prevent them from retracting. As a result, when the parachute opened up,
the payload was released and it free fell to the ground from 120,000 ft.
One of the side effects of this incident was to give some credence to the theory
that lightening can indeed travel upward from the clouds to space, phenomena
formally discovered several years later and actually widely known as “sprites”.
The most important aspect of the investigation was the change of NASA policy
regarding balloon flights over storms. Prior to this event, stratospheric balloons
often traveled over clouds without incident, with the only concern being loss of
height due to the albedo or temperature of the Earth below the balloon becoming
much colder and causing the gas to cool. After that, the policy was to not launch
balloons near thunderstorms unless they could terminate the balloon flight safely
before it reached the thunderstorm area. Also, NASA became more conservative
about launching a balloon if the high level wind forecast and the weather forecast
meant the balloon could approach a thunderstorm area.
As a footnote, after the Columbia reentry disaster in 2003 an article in several
newspapers theorized that the Shuttle was struck by a sprite before disintegrating.
In the final part of the article the author made mention of the balloon incident but
cited a wrong location of the impact site, saying that the payload impacted on “an
angry Dallas resident’s front yard” which was not true, the nearest dwelling was
about half a mile away from the crash point.
From home to Antarctica in only 36 hours!
This story is from Dr. Henry C. Dethloff’s 2012 book, “Exploring Near Space”.
Henry Cathey was the Vehicle Test Manager for the 2008-2009 Antarctic ULDB
test (see Section 2.4.2). He kept a travelogue of his experiences involving his trip
to Antarctica. He left his home on Wallops Island for the Salisbury, MD airport at
4:50 am on Thursday, December 3, 2008. He flew commercial from Salisbury to
Charlotte, NC then from Charlotte to Los Angeles, CA. After a nine hour layover
at the airport, he left Los Angeles at 9:00 pm. After a 12 hour 40 minute flight he
landed in Auckland, NZ. He said it was the longest day of his life, with little to no
sleep. As he cleared customs, a large crowd of Maori native people in ceremonial
garb and local folks gathered in the airport to cheer the arrival of the Los Angeles
“Galaxy” soccer team, scheduled for a big match in Auckland. He then boarded a
plane for Christchurch, NZ at 10:15 am on Friday, December 3rd; now (allowing
for the 18 hour time change) 36 hours after leaving home. After a little sleep, he
Appendix 3: Interesting Stories 305