Abstract
Balloons have had in instrumental part in many aspects of human flight in both aviation and space. Humans first left the surface of the Earth in 1783 in balloons, and rapid advances in high-altitude physiology were made in the following century as well as recognition of the grave dangers associated with high-altitude exposure. Balloons have advanced many scientific endeavors including space radiation research, atmospheric and climate science, and Earth observation. Arguably the first “Space Race” occurred in the 1930s with stratospheric balloons. Prior to humans launching into space, balloons were used as a space analog flying missions over 24 h above 100,000 ft. Balloon technology continues to advance to this day, and stratospheric balloons continue to be a viable testbed for life support systems and crew escape tests as well as use as a first stage for sounding rockets. Commercial companies are targeting “Near Space” human stratospheric balloon flights for tourism and scientific research.
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The author wishes to acknowledge assistance from Mr. Gregory Sutton in researching this entry as well as assistance from Ms. Catherine M. Moreno in editing the content.
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Clark, J.B. (2020). Overview of Balloon Flights and Their Biomedical Impact on Human Spaceflight. In: Young, L.R., Sutton, J.P. (eds) Handbook of Bioastronautics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10152-1_76-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10152-1_76-2
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Overview of Balloon Flights and Their Biomedical Impact on Human Spaceflight- Published:
- 03 December 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10152-1_76-2
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Overview of Balloon Flights and Their Biomedical Impact on Human Spaceflight- Published:
- 18 January 2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10152-1_76-1