“Holloman AFB”60+ pages
- p. 11 …Target Balloon Launch Near Holloman AFB, N.M.
50. DISCOVERER Nosecone Rigged for High Altitude Balloon…
- p. 12 …57. "Vee" Balloon at Holloman AFB, N.M.
58. Current Members of the Holloman AFB Balloon…
- p. 13 …Memorial Plaque at Holloman AFB, N.M.
32. Nenninger Balloon Launch Facility at Holloman AFB, N…
- p. 20 …Gildenberg, retired Holloman AFB Balloon Branch Physical Science Administrator and Meteorologist, came forward with pertinent information…
- p. 21 …engineer, and physical science administrator for the Holloman AFB Balloon Branch from 1951-1981. Gildenberg actively…
- p. 26 …AAF (renamed Walker AFB in 1948), White Sands Missile Range and Holloman AFB, N.M. The…
- p. 27 …Missiles (left) and drones (right) under development at Holloman AFB, N.M. were determined not to…
- p. 28 …unpredictable and did not usually remain over Holloman AFB or White Sands Missile Range. $ ^{28} $ Many…
- p. 36 …and other aero medical projects conducted at Holloman AFB also resulted in a 1956 Twentieth Century…
- p. 37 …Contemporary magazines that featured experiments at Holloman AFB, N.M. Clockwise from top left, Time, September…
- p. 40 …dummies were accomplished by personnel from the Holloman AFB Balloon Branch. $ ^{53} $ Typically, eight to twelve…
- p. 41 …at Muroc (now Edwards AFB), Calif., $ ^{61} $ and later at Holloman AFB, N.M. Developments from…
- p. 42 …Air Force Aeromedical Field Laboratory at Holloman AFB, N.M. and later the Aero Medical Laboratory…
- p. 45 …intended use, were the methods used by Holloman AFB personnel to transport them. The dummies were…
- p. 47 …Air Force research organizations at Holloman AFB, N.M., have launched and recovered approximately 2,500…
- p. 48 …Filmed on location at Holloman AFB, Air Force personnel, high altitude balloons, aircraft, vehicles, and other…
- p. 51 …by Holloman technicians to supplement early balloon tracking techniques. $ ^{76} $ Balloons launched at Holloman AFB generated…
- p. 52 …Research projects of the late 1940's and 1950's conducted at Holloman AFB which began…
- p. 53 …Air Force photo)
An illustration of the important contributions of the Holloman AFB Balloon Branch, and…
- p. 54 …American satellite, made possible in part by Holloman AFB high altitude balloons, enabled the U.S…
- p. 55 …The Holloman Balloon Branch, in addition to high altitude research activities, also conducted low altitude tethered…
- p. 56 …57. (Right) A tethered "Vee" balloon shown here at Holloman AFB, N.M. in March 1965…
- p. 57 balloon launch facility at Holloman AFB, U.S. Air Force balloon crews have recently launched balloons…
- p. 59 …Air Force scientific study and were given a telephone number at Holloman AFB if they required…
- p. 62 …Examples of unusual payloads flown by Air Force high altitude balloons at Holloman AFB, N.M…
- p. 63 …Army communications payload was flown at Holloman AFB, N.M. on September 30, 1976. (U.S…
- p. 68 …NASAs APOLLO spacecraft three-man couch at Holloman AFB, N.M. in 1965. (U.S. Air…
- p. 70 …aircraft, equipment, and procedures used by the Holloman AFB Balloon Branch to launch and recover anthropomorphic…
- p. 72 …Madson "rigs" a dummy to its suspension rack for project HIGH DIVE at Holloman AFB, N…
- p. 73 …Air Force L-20 aircraft used extensively by Holloman AFB crews to track and recover anthropomorphic…
- p. 74 …The Holloman AFB Balloon Branch modified these vehicles in 1953, ruling out the possibility that the…
- p. 82 …by remote control by balloon controllers at Holloman AFB Site1
47. “they took everybody’s name…
- p. 109 …Air Force photo)
Fig.13. (Right) Holloman AFB Balloon Branch Meteorologist and Engineer, Bernard D. Gildenberg…
- p. 110 …Kittinger, Jr., standing beside the EXCELSIOR gondola at Holloman AFB, N.M. On his third and…
- p. 112 …Additionally, two training flights at Holloman AFB also resulted in injuries to pilots. These injuries prompted…
- p. 113 …850 at Holloman AFB. $ ^{176} $ Near the end of another successful training mission with the same…
- p. 114 …The balloon training missions flown from Holloman AFB, N.M. in May 1959, were made in…
- p. 117 …In 1953, Kittinger received an assignment as a test pilot to Holloman AFB, N.M. While…
- p. 119 …The other ambulance had been converted by the Holloman AFB Balloon Branch and served as a…
- p. 120 …The ramp was attached to the hospital dispensary, Walker AFB Bldg. 317. $ ^{217} $ The other ambulances…
- p. 124 …REGISTER NUMBER 6580TH USAF HOSPITAL HOLLOMAN AFB MM 93. REGISTER NUMBER 16059
Fig. 27. Clinical Record…
- p. 125 …to Wright-Patterson AFB aboard a specially arranged flight from Holloman AFB, N.M. (photo collection…
- p. 126 …Although Fulgham did not require hospitalization at Walker AFB, upon his return to Holloman AFB he…
- p. 129 …Plaque placed at Holloman AFB honoring three Balloon Branch members killed during a high altitude balloon…
- p. 133 …Preliminary Survey of the Aft Facing Seated Position, Air Force Technical Report 5915, (Wright Patterson AFB…
- p. 134 …1947-1958 (Holloman AFB, NM: Air Research and Development Command, 1958) (hereafter Contributions of Balloon Operations…
- p. 136 …Gildenberg, Meteorologist, Holloman AFB Balloon Branch, October 12, 1956 - March 14, 1961.
88. Flight Summary, DISCOVERER…
- p. 137 …Gildenberg, Meteorologist, Holloman AFB Balloon Branch., October 12, 1956 - March 14, 1961; "Summary of Balloon Flights…
- p. 140 …HADC-TN-54-3 (Holloman AFB, NM: Holloman Air Development Center, March 1954), 7.
157. Recollections…
- p. 154 …Simons, MAN HIGH II, Air Force Missile Development Center, Holloman AFB, N.M., AFMDC-TR-59…
- p. 161 …Holloman AFB, N.M.
18 1/25/56 Holloman AFB, N.M. Holloman AFB, N.M…
- p. 162 Number Date Launch Site Landing Site
24 8/21/56 Holloman AFB, N.M. Holloman AFB…
- p. 166 …pilots and he wanted them returned to Holloman AFB as quickly as possible.
The hospital was…
- p. 168 …Capt Kittenger and Capt Bill Kaufman from Holloman AFB, NM in May, 1959. On the second…
- p. 170 …Following graduation I was hired by the Air Force at Holloman AFB and worked continuously as…
- p. 171 …The balloon was launched around midnight from behind the Balloon Branch at Holloman AFB. I remember…
- p. 173 …I completed three tours at the Balloon Branch at Holloman AFB, NM. I retired from the…
- p. 174 …provide them with a telephone number at Holloman AFB if they wanted to report any damages…
- p. 175 …of the Aero Medical Field Laboratory at Holloman AFB, NM.
During my third assignment at Wright…
- p. 176 …When the medical personnel were finished treating Fulgham, all three of us returned to Holloman AFB…
## High Altitude Balloons and America's First Satellite
Fig. 50. (Left). A Holloman Balloon Branch launch crew prepares a nosecone of the DISCOVERER satellite for a high altitude balloon flight at Holloman AFB, N.M. in April 1960. (U.S. Air Force photo)
An illustration of the important contributions of the Holloman AFB Balloon Branch, and the necessity for a rapid recovery of a high altitude balloon payload, were evaluations of components of the first U.S. satellitebased reconnaissance system, code named CORONA.
Fig. 51. (Right). A U.S. Navy helicopter aboard the USS Haiti Victory is shown here with the capsule from the DISCOVERER XIII satellite. It was recovered from the Pacific Ocean 330 miles northwest of Hawaii on August 11, 1960. (U.S. Air Force photo)
The Soviet Union had already beaten the U.S. into space with the launch and orbit of SPUTNIK I on October 4, 1957. The next achievement in the quest for space superiority were the physical recovery of a payload that had been in orbit. $ ^{85} $ The DISCOVERER satellite, the sensor used in the CORONA program, was to be propelled into orbit and then eject a capsule containing an American flag to enable the U.S. to claim this honor. $ ^{86} $
The DISCOVERER program had been plagued by failure with 10 unsuccessful missions in 1959 and 1960. With the eyes of the nation watching, and the Soviets testing a similar system, more failures could not be tolerated. To test the faulty components of the DISCOVERER, U.S. Air Force high altitude balloons at Holloman AFB were determined to be the most expedient method of conducting the evaluations.
In April 1960, DISCOVERER XI, on the launch pad at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., was put into a hold pending results of the balloon tests. $ ^{87} $ The first test at Holloman AFB on April 5th was unsatisfactory due to a parachute failure. $ ^{88} $ On April 8th, with pressure mounting, the Balloon Branch launched another balloon with the DISCOVERER capsule. This test, in which the capsule was dropped over White Sands Missile Range and recovered immediately, was a total success. $ ^{89} $ The results were relayed by telephone from the Balloon Control Center at Holloman AFB to the launch pad at Vandenberg AFB where the countdown resumed. $ ^{90} $ Despite the successful balloon drop, DISCOVERER XI and DISCOVERER XII were failures. $ ^{91} $ Therefore, balloon testing continued throughout the summer of 1960.