Stratosphere Balloon

a free aerostat for ascent into the stratosphere—that is, to a height of more than 11,000 m. The gondola, or cabin, of a manned balloon is pressurized and is provided with the necessary life-support equipment (seeGONDOLA). Depending on the height to be reached and the payload weight, the volume of the fully inflated envelope of the balloon ranges from 14,000 to 105,000 m³. Balloons designed to ascend only to the lowest layers of the stratosphere are called substratosphere balloons. The largest number of manned stratosphere-balloon flights was made in the 1930’s. Table 1 lists the most important of these flights.