STRATOSPHERIC BALLOON BASES IN THE WORLD

This very active balloon launch site was located in an old airport belonging to the University of Minnesota, near the town of New Brighton, about 15 miles north of Minneapolis area.

As the university had a fundamental role in the development of the first polyethylene balloons, soon it would become a virtual operations base from which would be launched those devices. These operations were carried out by staff of the mechanical division of General Mills a company with various activities in the military field during WWII. As the company was responsible for everything pertaining to the manufacture, launch and operation of stratospheric balloons, in some publications of the early 50's the New Brighton airport was referred as the "General Mills Flight Center".

During that decade it would become one of the most active centres of launching throughout the U.S.. Many of the activities carried out there were in the framework of a program under the secret codename of "Project Gopher" whose aim was to develop a balloon capable of carrying a big payload for a certain amount of days. The initiative was then considered secret because it was part of a much more comprehensive program aimed to perform strategic reconnaisance over the Soviet Union using spy balloons. Those tests took place between 1950 and 1954.

In parallel with these classified missions, several flights were made also with scientific goals or for technological purposes and test of new materials or types of balloons. Among the most important program we can to mention a complex project of sampling of the upper atmosphere looking for radioactive materials coming from nuclear tests (nicknamed projects "Ash Can" and "Grab Bag") and the development of a system carrying a four stage vector known as "Farside".

In mid-60's, the General Mills balloon operations division was acquired by Litton Industries Inc., a company linked to the defense sector, which continued with ballooning activities in New Brighton, but making much less flights. At that time a great porcentage of the missions were made for the benefit of various NASA projects. Among them were programs for validation of solar cells and other dealing with atmospheric sampling of particles of extraterrestrial origin at high altitudes. These missions would be the end point of activities with balloons there. As a bottom line we will say that during the nearly 20 years of activity are recorded from New Brighton more than 3000 flights, which should be added nearly a thousand launches of medium and small size balloons made by the staff of the University of Minnesota as part of its own agenda of cosmic radiation research.

The subsequent destination site after the cessation of balloon flights, is somewhat uncertain. However, through the Web site of Paul Freeman (Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields) we know that the airport was abandoned after a tornado went through there and destroyed the few remaining buildings.

After that, the former airport remained as open field for many years until, little by little, the area was being urbanizing.

Nowadays there is no trace of the old airport remaining.