Abstract
THE most difficult part of the planning of a large stratospheric balloon is how to control the rate of descent in the upper atmosphere. If a balloon is large enough to reach about 19 miles (1/100 atmosphere) the hydrogen must contract during the descent, and the bag will be only 10 per cent filled at 10 miles: it is then difficult to avoid a dangerous flapping of the bag, except by controlling the speed by a continuous dropping of ballast ; incidentally, the weight of that extra ballast would have reduced the maximum altitude reached.
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COSYNS , M. Belgian Stratosphere Balloon Experiment. Nature 140, 54 (1937). https://doi.org/10.1038/140054a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/140054a0