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Piccard, Don. World Book Encyclopedia. USA: World Book, 1996.
"1961, US Navy Officers Victor A. Prather, Jr and Malcolm Ross rose from a zero-pressure balloon at an altitude of 113,739.9 feet."
Crouch, Tom D. The Eagle Aloft: Two Centuries of the Balloon in America. Washington, DC: Smithsonian, 1983.
"May 4, 1961, M.D. Ross and V.C. Prather rose at the world record of 113,740 feet."
Dwiggins, Don. The Air Devils: The Story of Balloonists, Barnstormers, and Stunt Pilots.Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1966.
"In Sept 5, 1862, Coxwell and Glaisher rose to an altitude of 39,000 feet."
Nagel, Walter R. McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. New York: McGraw Hill, 1992.
"The zero-pressure balloon is capable of reaching an altitude of 140,000 feet."
What else can I help you with?
Is it bad to do the helium challenge?
A little helium isn't harmful, but inhaling an entire balloon-full can block oxygen to your brain, which might cause you to pass out. There has been at least one death from breathing helium from a pressurized tank instead of a balloon, too.
What was the name of the first aircraft flown?
The first manned aircraft was a hot air balloon created by the Montgolfier brothers, its maiden flight occurred on October 15th 1783. If this balloon was named, the name has been lost to history. Presumably one could call it "The Montgolfier Balloon."
Was Mars 3 a manned spacecraft?
As of yet, there have been no manned Mars spacecraft at all.
Will a balloon pop in space?
That depends on how much air is in the balloon and how high the temperature gets. As the sun shines, it heats the air in the balloon. This causes the air to expand. This air pushes against the insides of the ballon making it swell up and stretch. If there is enough air in the balloon and the temperature increases to a high enough level, then the air pressure can get to high, it will cause the balloons skin to stretch to far and the balloon can pop.
What is the cost to fill a helium balloon?
How big is the balloon? And what pressure do you require it to be inflated to? Greater size requires more He, thus more cost. Greater pressure requires more He, thus more cost. I have friends who launch helium-filled weather balloons, with Amateur Radio payloads. Once inflated, these balloons have a diameter of about 10 feet, and once released reach an altitude of about 90,000 feet. The cost of the helium for a balloon like this is about $60. Helium isn't cheap. Actually it's becoming scarce, and the US reserve supply, stored underground near Amarillo, TX, is lower today than it has been in the living memory of most folks. A balloon of the size that most folks are acquainted with would probably cost pennies to fill to a pressure that is less than its bursting point. Hope that helps.
Why do hot air balloons use hydrogen?
'Hot air' balloons don't use hydrogen. They use hot air. Balloons that use hydrogen are not referred to as 'hot air' balloons. The only balloons that can accurately be referred to as 'hot air' balloons are the members of the balloon population that derive their lift/buoyancy from the presence of hot air. Of course, if a balloon used no hot air, then it could freely be referred to as a 'hydrogen' balloon, a 'helium' balloon, a 'water' balloon, etc., depending in congruent harmony with the nature of whatever substance had been chosen with which to inflate it it in order to maintain its fulsome shape.
What is the gas in a balloon?
If it has been blown up by a machine it is likely to be helium. If you blow it up by mouth, it is just air, which is a mixture of a number of gases, particularly oxygen, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen.
Have there been manned space visits to neptune?
No, there hasn't.
How long has helium been in existence?
Helium is has been in existence since the beginning of the universe.
Why does a balloon filled with helium rise while a balloon filled with an equal volume of average atmosphere air does not?
The effect is a result of the difference between the density of the gas within the balloon and the density of the gas outwith the balloon, such that a buoyant force is created that can overcome the gravitational forces upon the balloon. To create a buoyant force, the gas within the balloon must be less dense than the gas outwith the balloon. The gas outwith a balloon is air (atmosphere) which roughly contains 78.09% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.039% carbon dioxide, and small amounts of other gases. Helium is less dense than this combination of gasses, thus if we release helium into the atmosphere, it automatically rises through the atmosphere. Although gravity has an effect upon this gas, the buoyant force can easily overcome it. It will continue to rise until the density of the surrounding gasses is equalised at which point it will hover, neither rising nor falling to any significant degree. A balloon makes use of this buoyant force by trapping the lighter gas within its envelope. Although the weight of the balloon itself adds a greater gravitational force, the buoyant force of the gas within can easily overcome this. If nothing else, this demonstrates just how weak gravity really is -- even a noble gas can easily overcome it! We can achieve the same thing with air itself. Hot air is less dense than cold air (hot air rises, after all), thus if we can heat up enough air within an envelope we can make the envelope rise upwards. Since heat will be lost through the envelope, we must ensure a constant supply of hot air is provided. Thus the balloon needs to be sufficiently large enough to accommodate enough hot air to lift both the envelope and the burner that heats the air. Chinese lanterns are a classic example of this type of hot air balloon. In order to lift people and other objects, we simply need a much larger envelope. Manned hot-air balloons are simply extremely large Chinese lanterns, using propane gas burners to heat the air in the envelope. The materials used in the balloon obviously need to be as light as possible, hence the envelope is constructed from ripstop nylon or dacron, while the gondola or basket is typically made from woven wicker. The burner and propane gas bottles are the heaviest elements, besides the people being carried. The combined weight of a 5-passenger hot air balloon can still be more than 3.5 tons. Even so, 100,000 cubic feet of hot air (weighing almost 6000 lbs) is enough to lift this enormous weight.
How does helium lift a balloon?
This lifting force comes from helium weighing less than air, resulting in an effect known as displacement. Because the surrounding air has been displaced by a substance with less weight per unit of volume, it is pushed away (upward, thanks to gravity) by the heavier substance.
Have there been other manned flights to the Moon or beyond Earth orbit prior to Apollo 8 or after Apollo 17?
No, Apollo 8 was the first manned mission to orbit the Moon, and Apollo 17 was the last manned mission to the Moon. No other manned missions have been to the Moon or beyond Earth orbit before or after those missions.
