25 MILES HIGH.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXIV, Issue 940, 9 December 1933, Page 1

25 MILES HIGH.

British Attempt on Ascent Into Stratosphere. LONDON, December 2. An ascent of twenty-five miles into the stratosphere, not in a sealed sphere but in a basket, is being arranged with the aid of scientists by Mr Mark Edward Ridge, an experienced aeronaut. Co-operation by Professor Haldane, a world expert in respiration, and by Sir Rotfhrt Davis, inventor of the submarine escape apparatus, will render the project possible. Ridge says it is essential to use an open basket to permit of moving and reading the instruments.

When the project was turned down in America, Professor Haldane took it up, and Sir Robert Davis designed a suit which he believes will enable the wearer to reach an unprecedented height. He has already been subjected to a lack of atmospheric pressure representing conditions at a height of more than seventeen and says he was perfectly comfortable. The suit works automatically, and there is no question of nose and ears bleeding or of lungs or arteries bursting owing to the rarefied atmosphere, proving, says Professor Haldane, that there is no limit to the height one can ascend, the only question being how far the balloon will go.

The adventurer into the stratosphere will be able to observe his instruments instead of guessing at conditions, as he does when locked in a steel sphere. Ridge will take instruments to study the cosmic rays, as well as short-wave receiving and transmitting radio, to observe the effect erf the Heaviside layer, and an infra-red camera.