Editing Project Manhigh

[[File:Manhigh II gondola.jpg|thumb|upright|Manhigh II balloon gondola displayed at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio]]
[[File:Project Manhigh, National Museum of USAF.jpg|right|thumb|As displayed in 2018]]

'''Project Manhigh''' was a pre-[[Space Age]] military project that took men in [[Balloon (aircraft)|balloons]] to the middle layers of the [[stratosphere]], funded as an aero-medical research program, though seen by its designers as a stepping stone to space. It was conducted by the [[United States Air Force]] between 1955 and 1958.<ref name="AmExp">{{cite web |title=Space Men: They were the first to brave the unknown (Transcript) |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/spacemen/ |website=American Experience |publisher=PBS |access-date=2 January 2019 |date=1 March 2016}}</ref>

==History==
The project [[History of the United States (1945–1964)|started in December 1955]] to study the effects of [[cosmic rays]] on humans. Three balloon flights to the [[stratosphere]] were made during the program:

* Manhigh I to {{cvt|29,500|m}}, by [[Captain (land and air)|Captain]] [[Joseph W. Kittinger]] on June 2, 1957. The balloon was launched from [[South St. Paul Airport]] and the flight was cut short due to one of the capsule's valves being installed backwards which vented the oxygen supply outside, but not before reaching a record altitude of 96,784 feet.<ref name="AmExp"/>
* Manhigh II to {{cvt|30,942|m}}, by [[Major (rank)|Major]] [[David G. Simons]] on August 19&ndash;20, 1957, launched from Portsmouth Mine in Crosby, Minnesota, for a 32-hour flight that included a set of 25 experiments and observations, and earned Simons a [[Life (magazine)|''Life'']] magazine cover spot.<ref name="AmExp"/><ref>{{cite journal |last=Stafford |first=Ned |date=July 3, 2010 |title=David G. Simons: Set a record with a balloon flight 19 miles above Earth |url=http://www.dgs.eu.com/fileadmin/documents/Obituary_DGS_BMJ.pdf |url-status=dead |department=Obituaries |journal=[[British Medical Journal]] |volume=341 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604012009/http://www.dgs.eu.com/fileadmin/documents/Obituary_DGS_BMJ.pdf |archive-date=June 4, 2016 |access-date=February 27, 2012}}</ref> With the pilot and the scientific payload, the Manhigh II gondola had a total mass of {{convert|748|kg|lb|abbr=on}}. At maximum altitude, the balloon expanded to a diameter of {{convert|60|m|ft|abbr=on}} with a volume of over {{convert|85000|m3|cuyd|abbr=on}}.
* Manhigh III to {{cvt|29,900|m}}, by [[Lieutenant]] [[Clifton M. McClure]] on October 8, 1958<ref>[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-jan-22-mn-56594-story.html Clifton McClure; Rode Balloon to Edge of Space]</ref>

Candidates for the Manhigh project were put through a series of physical and psychological tests that became the standard for qualifying astronauts for the [[Project Mercury]], America's first manned orbital space program.<ref name="AmExp"/>

Similar projects in which men in a gondola reached near-space altitudes were performed by Swiss physicist [[Auguste Piccard]] and Paul Kipfer, reaching {{convert|15785|m|ft|abbr=on}} in 1931, [[USSR-1]] piloted by [[Georgy Prokofiev]] reaching {{convert|18500|m|ft|abbr=on}} in 1933, and [[Osoaviakhim-1]] reaching {{convert|22000|m|ft|abbr=on}} in 1934 as well as [[Explorer II]] reaching {{convert|22066|m|ft|abbr=on}} in 1935.

==See also==
*[[John Stapp]]
*[[Project Excelsior]], follow-on flights in 1959 and 1960
*[[Project Adam]], a contemporary plan using Manhigh hardware by the United States Army
*[[Flight altitude record]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |title=Touching Space: The Story of Project Manhigh |first=Gregory P. |last=Kennedy |year=2007 |location=Atglen, Pennsylvania |publisher=Schiffer Books |isbn=978-0-7643-2788-9 }}
* {{cite book |first=Craig |last=Ryan |title=The Pre-Astronauts: Manned Ballooning on the Threshold of Space |url=https://archive.org/details/preastronautsman00ryan |url-access=registration |publisher=Naval Institute Press |year=1995 |isbn=1-55750-732-5 }}
* {{cite book |title=Manhigh |first=David G. |last=Simons |first2=Don A. |last2=Schanche |publisher=Avon Books |year=1960 }}

==External links==
* Details of [http://stratocat.com.ar/fichas-e/1957/FMN-19570602.htm Manhigh I], [http://stratocat.com.ar/fichas-e/1957/CBY-19570819.htm Manhigh II flight], and [http://stratocat.com.ar/fichas-e/1958/HMN-19581008.htm Manhigh III] at stratocat.com.ar
* [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/spacemen/ Space Men] (''[[American Experience]]'' episode)

[[Category:Ballooning]]
[[Category:Space research]]
[[Category:Human subject research in the United States]]
[[Category:Military projects of the United States]]