HIGHEST - Manned Balloon Flight Vehicle - Albuquerque, New Mexico
Posted by: 
kameniev
N 35° 11.367 W 106° 35.869
13S E 354527 N 3895221
The gondola used for the highest recorded manned balloon flight is on display at the Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Waymark Code: WMATZV
Location: New Mexico, United States
Date Posted: 02/25/2011
Views: 4
The Stratolab V gondola that was used to set the world's record for the highest manned balloon trip is on display at the Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
From wikipedia:
The Strato-Lab flights culminated in a record-setting flight on May 4, 1961, by Commander Malcolm Ross and Lieutenant Commander Victor Prather (United States Navy) to test the Navy's Mark IV full-pressure suit. The Mark IV suit overcame problems of weight, bulk, ventilation, air and water tightness, mobility, temperature control, and survival capabilities so well that NASA selected a modified version for use by the Project Mercury astronauts. The May 4 flight was the most severe test of the suit that was ever conducted. The flight set an altitude record of 113,740 feet (34.67 km), lasted 9 hours 54 minutes, and covered a horizontal distance of 140 miles (230 km). The research goals of the flight were successful, but Victor Prather drowned during the helicopter transfer after landing.
The May 4 altitude record still stands for manned balloon flight. For this record ascent, President John F. Kennedy presented the balloonists (Victor Prather, posthumously to his wife) the 1961 Harmon Trophy for Aeronauts. For one day the balloonists held the record for the highest that any American had traveled into space. The Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin had orbited the Earth almost a month earlier, on April 12, 1961; and the next day, on May 5, Alan Shepard flew a sub-orbital trajectory on the Mercury Redstone rocket.
Type of documentation of superlative status: Museum Plaque
Location of coordinates: Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Web Site: Not listed
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