PROJECT STARGAZER - TEST FLIGHT

The general purpose of the STARGAZER program was to test the feasibility of doing astronomical research from a manned balloon-borne vehicle.

It was initiated in 1957 at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. Later, the program was under the sponsorship of the Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories and the scientific portion was conducted at Dearborn Observatory, Northwestern University under the guidance of Dr. Allen Hynek. In association with Dearborn Observatory, the Experimental Astronomy Laboratory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was responsible for the telescope mounting and stabilization system and the Naval Ordnance Test Station furnished a scientific assistant and technical assistance in the design and construction of the instruments. Finally, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base was responsible for the gondola and its fittings and the high altitude indoctrination of the observer and the R&D test branch of AFCRL was responsible for the balloon launch operation.

The project included several unmmaned test flights starting in 1960 that would culminate on the only crewed flight in December 1962. Two failed attempts of a second flight were carried out in 1963 just before the project's cancellation.

The sealed capsule for the project was an aluminum cylinder 13 feet high and 7 feet in diameter that was originally designed as a platform for a high-altitude escape program that never materialized. On top the capsule was located a Cassegrain reflector telescope with a primary mirror of 12 inches in diameter and a effective focal length of approximately 120 inches.

Balloon launched on: 3/12/1962 at 8:30 pst
Launch site: Chico Municipal Airport, California, US  
Balloon launched by: Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories (AFCRL)
Balloon manufacturer/size/composition: Zero Pressure Balloon 3.200,000 cuft (2.0 mils.)
End of flight (L for landing time, W for last contact, otherwise termination time): 3/13/1962
Balloon flight duration (F: time at float only, otherwise total flight time in d:days / h:hours or m:minutes - ): 25 h 30 m
Landing site: 60 miles W of San Francisco, California, US
Payload weight: 4000 pds

This was a test flight of the balloon for the STARGAZER project. Launch of the 3.2 million cubic-foot, 2-mil polyethylene balloon was made at 8:30 a.m. PST from Chico, California by the Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories launch team. Ceiling altitude was 83,700 feet and the payload -a dummy version of the real Stargazer gondola- was 4,000 pounds. After a flight lasting 25 hours and 30 minutes, impact occurred 60 miles west of San Francisco.

• Scientific Ballooning Nº 3, March 1962