PARACHUTE TEST FAILS

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28270, 7 May 1957, Page 14

PARACHUTE TEST FAILS

Dummy Still At 95,000 Ft. (Rec. 8 p.m.) MINNEAPOLIS (Minnesota), May 5. A life-like dummy that was to have fallen 14 miles through space before its parachute opened, clung to a big balloon at an altitude of 95,000 ft today after two attempts to dislodge it failed. The experiment was the first phase of an Air Force balloon project which will be culminated later this year by parachute jumps by volunteers from record altitudes. The balloon was launched from an airport north of Minneapolis at sunrise. A radio signal designed to dislodge the dummy failed. A mechanical timing device attached to the balloon as a precautionary measure also failed. With both systems for releasing the dummy and then the gondola out of order, technicians said nothing further could be done to bring the two down. Technicians hoped cooler weather during the night might lower the balloon to earth, but they said that in previous flights balloons had come close to earth during the night, only to rise again at dawn. The gondola and equipment in it is valued at 90,000 dollars. An Air Force spokesman said that today’s problems would not be encountered in a manned flight, since the parachutist would jump from the gondola and a second man could release the gondola manually if necessary.