TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. Introduction ... 5
Contract Requirements ... 5
Project Facilities ... 6
II. Principles of Balloon Control ... 6
III. Methods of Attack ... 8
Rubber Balloons ... 8
Plastic Balloons ... 9
Internal-Pressure Balloons ... 14
Altitude Controls ... 16
Flight Simulation ... 25
Flight Termination Gear ... 29
IV. Equations and Theoretical Considerations ... 30
Floating Altitude and Altitude Sensitivity ... 30
Rate of Rise ... 33
Superheat and its Effects ... 34
Adiabatic Lapse Rate ... 38
Diffusion and Leakage of Lifting Gas ... 40
Bursting Pressure and Appendix Considerations ... 47
A General Equation of Motion ... 56
V. Telemetering ... 62
Information Transmitted ... 62
Transmitters Used ... 63
Receivers and Recorders Used ... 65
Batteries Used ... 65
Radio Direction-Finding ... 66
Radar and Optical Tracking ... 67
VI. Instrumentation ... 67
Altitude Determination ... 67
Temperature Measurements ... 74
Ballast Metering ... 76
VII. Conclusions ... 79