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1st balloon flight into the stratosphere...
1st balloon flight into the stratosphere...
Item # 632072
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May 28, 1931
THE NEW YORK TIMES, May 28, 1931
* 1st ballooning flight into the stratosphere
* Auguste Piccard & Paul Kipfer
The front page has a two column headline: "PICCARD BALLOON DRIFTS HELPLESSLY ABOVE ALPS; SCIENTISTS FEARED DEAD" with subheads. (see) Report continues inside with two photos and map. Coverage on the very 1st balloon flight to reach the stratosphere. Always nice to have notable events in history reported in this World famous publication.
Other news, sports and advertisements of the day. Complete in 56 pages, this is the rare rag edition that was produced on very high quality newsprint, with a high percentage of cotton & linen content, allowing the issues to remain very white & sturdy into the present. Given the subscription cost, libraries & institutions rather than individuals were the primary subscribers of these high-quality editions.
wikipedia notes: In 1930, an interest in ballooning, and a curiosity about the upper atmosphere led him to design a spherical, pressurized aluminum gondola that would allow ascent to great altitude without requiring a pressure suit. Supported by the Belgian Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS) Piccard constructed his gondola.
On May 27, 1931, Auguste Piccard and Paul Kipfer took off from Augsburg, Germany, and reached a record altitude of 15,785 m (51,775 ft). During this flight, Piccard was able to gather substantial data on the upper atmosphere, as well as measure cosmic rays.
Category: The 20th Century
No Longer Available
