Jean Piccard in the unfinished gondola in 1933. (Associated Press photo)

PICCARDS ON STRATO FLIGHT

PROFESSOR AND
WIFE STUDYING
UPPER AIR RAYS

Take-off at Dearborn,
Mich., Seek 60,000-
Foot Level BAG'S EQUIPMENT
VALUED AT $25,000 Balloon Equipped With
Latest Safety
Devices By United Press Ford Airport, Dearborn, Mich., Oct. 23. – Prof. Jean Piccard and his wife, Jeannette, took off early today for the stratosphere and a study of the mysterious cosmic rays. After the take-off, the balloon settled to earth despite throwing out of ballast, but attendants started it upward again and the huge bag then shot straight up. The two Piccard children, Paul, 10, and Donald, 8, waved good bye to their parents at the take-off. Bag Rises Rapidly

A jubilant Jeannette Piccard beamed for the cameras after landing safely outside Cadiz, Ohio. Their balloon rose rapidly, at the rate of about 30 miles an hour. At 10,000 feet the professor and his wife – former teacher and pupil – will close the trapdoor in their gondola. The balloon will continue to rise, they hope, until they have reached about 60,000 feet. The couple was clad in winter clothing to keep them warm during the journey before sunrise, when they expect to drop to around 67 degrees below zero. Last night and early today 750 tanks of hydrogen hissed their contents into the folds of the balloon until it towered 175 feet above the ground like a big gray top. The 120,000 cubic feet of gas inflated it to only one-fifth of capacity. Lower atmospheric pressure, miles above the earth, will permit the hydrogen to swell out the bag to its capacity of 600,000 cubic feet. Elaborate Instruments Prof. and Mrs. Piccard huddled in their little gondola, seven feet in diameter, with barely room to move, among the most elaborate array of instruments yet assembled for such a flight. Most vital in the $25,000 worth of equipment were the 168 Geiger counters. Placed all around the black and white gondola to catch rays coming from all directions, the counters can register all rays and by means of radio tubes and photographic equipment record their direction and number. The Piccards hope to rise to 40,000 feet without discharging much of their ballast. At that height they plan an intermediate stop to make the most thorough study of cosmic rays yet achieved. Then, with the aid of blasting caps they will release the rest of the ballast and rise to the maximum height, probably around 60,000 feet or more than 11 miles. May Not See Earth

Jean and Jeannette Piccard emerged from their gondola sometime after the landing. Their son Don suspects the photo was a posed one, taken hours later. (Photo courtesy San Diego Air and Space Museum)
At that height they would see the sky as a bluish-purple canopy, perhaps dotted faintly with a few stars. The sun would be a blazing orb, with none of the haze that surrounds it as seen through the heavier and dust-laden atmosphere close to earth. They may not see the earth from that rainless, windless stratum because of clouds. However, an infrared camera which they carried may successfully pierce the haze and photograph the earth, many miles away. A descent was planned for soon after noon. Should they start down too late, the gas might contract too rapidly as the sun sets and atmosphere cools. That would make the drop too swift for comfort or safety. Precautions Taken Special precautions have been taken to protect the balloon from accidents such as have marred previous adventures into the stratosphere. A ring was installed around the bottom of the bag to eliminate pleats as the gas expanded, to allow air to escape as the bag swells and to enter as the bag shrinks during the descent. Special emergency valves were installed to permit escape of the gas for descent in case the regular valve sticks or freezes. Short wave radio sets were installed in the balloon and in the official car which will try to follow the course. They will use a wave length of five meters, 56 kilocycles, in attempting to keep in direct touch with the earth.

Before the flight, Jean Piccard took this photo of his wife, Jeannette, and the gondola that would carry them to a height of nearly 11 miles. (Photo courtesy Don Piccard)