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Flight 68: Released from Alamogordo, New Mexico, 2033 :MST, May 10, 1948
Recovered at Val D•Or, Quebec ·
A .001 11 polyethylene balloon was the vehicle on this flight carrying a
barograph as ~11 as an early model of the Olland-cycle pressure modulator.
This flight was released at night with a fixed ballast flow of about 300
~rams per hour expected to keep the balloon afloat. From the barogram
(Figure 22) (12-hour rotation) it appears that the orifice did not permit
sufficient (if' any) flaw to maintain buoyancy during the first several
hours (perhaps the orifice was clogged or frozen). After a descent to about
:53,000 feet at 8\Jlri!'!ea floating level was maintained with 4 kilograms of
ballast available. The full flow rate could not have been maintained much
more than the 11 hours during which the balloon was at this pressure.
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~40~--r-~-T--+--.--r---~--+-~--~~----~~=1--+--+--r-~~--+-~
c
;
~o~~~~~~~:I~~~~~~~~--LJt-~~=i~===:+=~~....
s
-.c
:2~-+--~~~~4--+--~~~--+-~~~~~--~~~~~~~r---~--+-~
%
-·-~-- -·-···
2000 2100 2200 2300 0000 0100 0200
0800 0900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400
T1me- M.S.T
NYU BALLOON PROJECT FUGHT 58
Barograph Record Of G.M. 20 ft. Plashc Balloon W1th
300 gm/hr F1xed Ballast Leak
RELEASED AT ALAMOGORDO, N.M.- 2033 MST, 10 MAY, 1948
RECOVERED AT VAL D'OR, QUEBEC, CANADA-24 MAY,I94tl
ESTIMATED DURATION- 24 112 hrs.
Figure 22
On this flight, oscillations in the pressure record were seen. With
no control system which could cause such behavior, they must be attributed
to atmospheric motion.
The descent point was compared with that expected from analyses of' the
pressure field. The results of a number or such analyses are shown in
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