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Project Manhigh
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<h2 id="history">History</h2> <p>The project <a href="/facts/History_of_the_United_States_(1945%25E2%2580%25931964)/cXTLIXvl">started in December 1955</a> to study the effects of <a href="/facts/Cosmic_rays/uxCVdTKd">cosmic rays</a> on humans. Three balloon flights to the <a href="/facts/Stratosphere/taBra67V">stratosphere</a> were made during the program: </p> <ul><li>Manhigh I to 29,500 m (96,800 ft), by <a href="/facts/Captain_(land_and_air)/cqlntj0j">Captain</a> <a href="/facts/Joseph_W._Kittinger/bURsqlQU">Joseph W. Kittinger</a> on June 2, 1957. The balloon was launched from <a href="/facts/South_St._Paul_Airport/XudTQNMI">South St. Paul Airport</a> and the flight was cut short due to one of the capsule's valves being installed backwards which vented the oxygen supply outside, but not before reaching a record altitude of 96,784 feet.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a></li> <li>Manhigh II to 30,942 m (101,516 ft), by <a href="/facts/Major_(rank)/l3XVzecr">Major</a> <a href="/facts/David_G._Simons/WJnldmPP">David G. Simons</a> on August 19–20, 1957, launched from Portsmouth Mine in Crosby, Minnesota, for a 32-hour flight that included a set of 25 experiments and observations, and earned Simons a <a href="/facts/Life_(magazine)/t3r71BEK"><i>Life</i></a> magazine cover spot.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> With the pilot and the scientific payload, the Manhigh II gondola had a total mass of 748 kg (1,649 lb). At maximum altitude, the balloon expanded to a diameter of 60 m (200 ft) with a volume of over 85,000 m3 (111,000 cu yd).</li> <li>Manhigh III to 29,900 m (98,100 ft), by <a href="/facts/Lieutenant/G9BbvD6s">Lieutenant</a> Clifton M. McClure on October 8, 1958<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a></li></ul> <p>Candidates for the Manhigh project were put through a series of physical and psychological tests that became the standard for qualifying astronauts for the <a href="/facts/Project_Mercury/H8zqFzbC">Project Mercury</a>, America's first manned orbital space program.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> </p><p>Similar projects in which men in a gondola reached near-space altitudes were performed by Swiss physicist <a href="/facts/Auguste_Piccard/8t3YLJLr">Auguste Piccard</a> and Paul Kipfer, reaching 15,785 m (51,788 ft) in 1931, <a href="/facts/USSR-1/yoY2WQHo">USSR-1</a> piloted by <a href="/facts/Georgy_Prokofiev/aKrFzBm0">Georgy Prokofiev</a> reaching 18,500 m (60,700 ft) in 1933, and <a href="/facts/Osoaviakhim-1/1vs7AT60">Osoaviakhim-1</a> reaching 22,000 m (72,000 ft) in 1934 as well as <a href="/facts/Explorer_II/5xe5zcBq">Explorer II</a> reaching 22,066 m (72,395 ft) in 1935. </p> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/John_Stapp/Qkot3P1v">John Stapp</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Project_Excelsior/od8bTN2s">Project Excelsior</a>, follow-on flights in 1959 and 1960</li> <li>Project Adam, a contemporary plan using Manhigh hardware by the United States Army</li> <li><a href="/facts/Flight_altitude_record/MTvbRIr5">Flight altitude record</a></li></ul> <h2 id="further-reading">Further reading</h2> <ul><li>Kennedy, Gregory P. (2007). <i>Touching Space: The Story of Project Manhigh</i>. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Books. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-0-7643-2788-9.</li> <li>Ryan, Craig (1995). <a href="https://archive.org/details/preastronautsman00ryan"><i>The Pre-Astronauts: Manned Ballooning on the Threshold of Space</i></a>. Naval Institute Press. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 1-55750-732-5.</li> <li>Simons, David G.; Schanche, Don A. (1960). <i>Manhigh</i>. Avon Books.</li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li>Details of <a href="http://stratocat.com.ar/fichas-e/1957/FMN-19570602.htm">Manhigh I</a>, <a href="http://stratocat.com.ar/fichas-e/1957/CBY-19570819.htm">Manhigh II flight</a>, and <a href="http://stratocat.com.ar/fichas-e/1958/HMN-19581008.htm">Manhigh III</a> at stratocat.com.ar</li> <li><a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/spacemen/">Space Men</a> (<i><a href="/facts/American_Experience/KBu8lszU">American Experience</a></i> episode)</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>"Space Men: They were the first to brave the unknown (Transcript)". American Experience. PBS. 1 March 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2019. <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/spacemen/" target="_blank">https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/spacemen/</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>"Space Men: They were the first to brave the unknown (Transcript)". American Experience. PBS. 1 March 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2019. <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/spacemen/" target="_blank">https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/spacemen/</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>"Space Men: They were the first to brave the unknown (Transcript)". American Experience. PBS. 1 March 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2019. <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/spacemen/" target="_blank">https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/spacemen/</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Stafford, Ned (July 3, 2010). "David G. Simons: Set a record with a balloon flight 19 miles above Earth" (PDF). Obituaries. British Medical Journal. 341. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 4, 2016. Retrieved February 27, 2012. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160604012009/http://www.dgs.eu.com/fileadmin/documents/Obituary_DGS_BMJ.pdf" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20160604012009/http://www.dgs.eu.com/fileadmin/documents/Obituary_DGS_BMJ.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Clifton McClure; Rode Balloon to Edge of Space <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-jan-22-mn-56594-story.html" target="_blank">https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-jan-22-mn-56594-story.html</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>"Space Men: They were the first to brave the unknown (Transcript)". American Experience. PBS. 1 March 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2019. <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/spacemen/" target="_blank">https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/spacemen/</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>