Balloon record heightIn 1935, a record 72,395 feet was reached by Lt. Col. Albert William Stevens and Capt. Orvil Anderson, by helium balloon in a sealed gondola, Explorer II. This set a substratosphere record that stood for 21 years. They left from Rapid City, S.D. and spent 8 hrs in the air taking still and motion pictures in black and white and colour. They measured electrical conductivity and took samples of the stratosphere air, with an interest in the ozone layer, and captured spores floating miles-high in the atmosphere. They also carried fruit flies to study the effect of the rare stratosphere. Stevens was a skilled aerial photographer who took the first photograph (30 Dec 1930) showing the Earth's curvature, and the first pictures (1932) showing the moon's shadow on the Earth during a total lunar eclipse.« |