RELEASE OF BALLOONS

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31343, 13 April 1967, Page 8

RELEASE OF BALLOONS

Joint Research At Airport Research by the Project Ghost team at Christchurch [ Airport is now a year bld. i Ninety-one balloons have been I launched, of which 10 are still i in the air. Mr M. Verstradte, a member of the team, said that the 10 still aloft included four of the larger balloons, of 23ft diameter. Seven of these were released to an altitude of 80,000 ft None of the big balloons had gone around the globe yet mainly because winds at that altitude had averaged only five knots. The balloons were only now, a few weeks after launching, moving out of range. Because the balloons were so large the team had , been unable to test them for leaks at Christchurch, sb each carried gauges to measure internal pressures. In September or October, it is expected, the second research phase of Project Ghost will begin. For this research, Mr Verstradte said, balloons with diameters between 75ft and 100 ft might be used. The size of the balloons would depend on the altitude at which it was planned to fly them. The purpose of the balloon programme was ultimately to improve weather forecasting. The cost of the programme : was being met by the govern- ; ments of the United States and New Zealand.