needed than before, due to the hiring of more personnel. The joint laboratory and office which this project shares with another is highly inadequate for six men of theirs and eleven of ours -- a total of 17 men in a space approximately 15x15 feet.
d. Methods of Attack
Until plastic balloons can be obtained, we will continue to fly clusters of meteorological balloons.
Apparatus and Equipment
The only substantial change in equipment during the period covered by this report, other than general strengthening of flying lines, is the addition of a new main sand ballast dropping device to the equipment train of the flights to be made at Alamogordo.
The device consists of a nest of eight plastic tubes each filled with dry sand and sealed on the bottom with a sturdy paper membrane. At the bottom of each tube, resting against the membrane, is a small detonating squib of sufficient force to rupture the paper and permit the sand to fall. Each squib is connected to a different lead on the baro-switch of a radio-sonde modulator, so that a predetermined weight of sand may be released at eight predetermined altitudes. A small wire "shelf" is placed over the commutator of the modulator in such a way that the pin arm is lifted clear of the contacts during ascent and permitted to drop into place at an altitude above that of the highest firing contact. This is designed to prevent the firing of squibs and consequent dropping of ballast during ascent.
f. Conclusions and Recommendations
It is felt that the use of freely extensible meteorological balloons is unsatisfactory for any final solution of our problem because of their inherent instability and the rapid deterioration of neoprene rubber under the rays of the sun. It is felt that cluster flights of these balloons are a purely stop-gap method of floating Watson Laboratories equipment until plastic non-extensible balloons can be obtained and tested.
The need for greater work space is becoming increasingly urgent as new personnel are added to the project and the extent of the work grows.