Balloon launch for cosmic ray research
Date
1952
Object type
Material
Dimensions
height (print): 159mm
width (print): 123mm
width (print): 123mm
Subject
Content object
Description
Balloon being filled from gas canisters by ground support staff.
A scene from an expedition to launch twelve balloons from Elmas Aerodrome, Cagliari, Sardinina, May-June 1952. The expedition’s objectives and results in sending recording equipment into the upper atmosphere to detect cosmic rays were outlined by the physicist Cecil Frank Powell FRS (1903-1969) in his descriptive report: “Memorandum on high altitude balloon flights in the Mediterranean” (Typescript, Bristol, 20 July 1952) from which this image is taken.
The original caption reads: “100 ft, balloon of polyethylene sheet, just before release. Only 3% of the volume of the balloon is filled with hydrogen and 2/3rds of the fabric is on the ground. The release mechanism allows the total upward force on the balloon to be measured provided the wind speeds are not greater than 5 knots.”
A scene from an expedition to launch twelve balloons from Elmas Aerodrome, Cagliari, Sardinina, May-June 1952. The expedition’s objectives and results in sending recording equipment into the upper atmosphere to detect cosmic rays were outlined by the physicist Cecil Frank Powell FRS (1903-1969) in his descriptive report: “Memorandum on high altitude balloon flights in the Mediterranean” (Typescript, Bristol, 20 July 1952) from which this image is taken.
The original caption reads: “100 ft, balloon of polyethylene sheet, just before release. Only 3% of the volume of the balloon is filled with hydrogen and 2/3rds of the fabric is on the ground. The release mechanism allows the total upward force on the balloon to be measured provided the wind speeds are not greater than 5 knots.”
Associated place