posted 07-06-2007 04:43 PM               

I recently read this fascinating book which tells the story of Projects Manhigh and Excelsior, that attempted to place humans on the threshold of space about 20 miles high. These courageous people, mostly Air Force and Navy officers with some civilian help, built gondolas and pressure suits to tackle the challenges of this region.

Not content with ascending to 100,000+ feet one of the pilots stayed aloft for a full day and night in a primitive pressurised environment and several jumped out and free falled back to earth! One person exceeded the sound barrier on the way down!

posted 07-06-2007 06:53 PM               

Commanders Prather and Ross rose from the deck of the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Antietam, used as a movable platform for launching the giant plastic balloon. They reached an altitude of 113,720 feet or about 21 ½ miles over the Gulf of Mexico south of Pensacola, Florida - a world record altitude for air balloons which will not likely ever be broken. For nine hours their survival depended on their spacesuits whose actual operating capabilities they were to determine. They were exposed to minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit and air pressures below 0.1 pounds per square inch.

The ascent and descent were highly successful, but Prather lost his life unexpectedly after slipping into the sea while being picked up by Navy helicopters.

His achievement was a direct contribution to man's conquest of space. Alan Shepard later went into sub-orbital flight with the certain knowledge that his space suit could withstand the extremes of the upper atmosphere.