2 ms·
At the peak they released helium to slow his ascent. At around 126k ft he accelerated and was ascending at 2000ft/min (twice as fast as he was going for most of
by spullara 14y ago
At the peak they released helium to slow his ascent. At around 126k ft he accelerated and was ascending at 2000ft/min (twice as fast as he was going for most of the trip). It would have been interesting to see where it would have naturally stopped.
- 46Bit 14y agoThis did seem quite surprising to me as well - I think they might have let it go if it wasn't quite such a high rate of ascent. 2000ft/min could easily give them a final altitude way above what they'd expected.
- tisme 14y agoConsider the risk of having the balloon go pop while he was still in the capsule. Mission shot to hell with no chance of recovery all for going beyond the design parameters of the balloon. They did well by playing it safe and not letting the ascent get out of control or too much above the target. Better to have 3 records set than an uncontrolled ascent with a small possibility of higher records (but not more of them) and a significant chance of disaster.