Exploring the Stratosphere

Southland Times, Issue 22898, 25 May 1936, Page 6

Exploring the Stratosphere

As early as 1862 balloonists made voyages into the stratosphere though they were not then aware of its existence. It was not until cosmic rays were discovered and it became necessary to measure their intensity and direction at different altitudes that a new generation of pioneers, of whom Professor Auguste Piccard was the first, felt the urge to climb to heights never before reached by man. For some time their observations were confined to the northern hemisphere; but recently Professor Arthur Compton, a distinguished American physicist, spent some time on high altitudes at Mount Cook conducting modest experiments to determine the character of the. rays. Now it is announced, according to a cable message printed on Saturday, that a group of internationally-known scientists including the famous Professor Piccard, his brother, Dr. Jean Piccard, and Professor Swann, intend to ask the Commonwealth Government for permission to make a stratosphere flight above Australia next summer. They will make a particular study of cosmic rays; but no doubt their observations will go a good deal further than that. Since Professor Auguste Piccard made his remarkable flight in 1931, scientific interest in the atmosphere has broadened immeasurably. The composition of the air, the nature of the light emitted by the sun, meteorological conditions, electrical phenomena —all these things now come within the scope of scientific investigation in the upper air. Men like Professor Piccard have shown that the air is as much

a part of our earth as the water and the land; they have shown that mankind knows very little about the sea of gas in which he is immersed, and they have exposed the limitations of his theorizing. It has, for instance, been a common belief that the oxygen content of the atmosphere at 12 miles was no more than 15 to 20 per cent. But from recent investigations of the stratosphere the conclusion has been drawn that even at 30 miles the chemical composition of the air is much as we know it at sea level. Such investigations naturally look to the future when the stratosphere may be used as a high-speed airway to convey passengers with velvety smoothness from continent to continent. Professor Piccard and his colleagues should be certain of a warm welcome to Australia; and their experiments, combining science with romantic adventure, will be eagerly followed.