Malcolm_Ross_(balloonist)

Malcolm Ross (balloonist)

Malcolm Ross (balloonist)

20th-century U.S. Navy Reserve captain, atmospheric scientist, and balloonist

Malcolm David Ross (October 15, 1919 – October 8, 1985) was a captain[1][2] in the United States Naval Reserve (USNR), an atmospheric scientist, and a balloonist who set several records for altitude and scientific inquiry, with more than 100 hours flight time in gas balloons by 1961.[3] Along with Lieutenant Commander Victor A. Prather (USN), he set the altitude record for a manned balloon flight.[4][lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2]

Malcolm Ross, 10,000 feet (3,000 m) above the Mississippi River in 1958
Quick Facts Born, Died ...

Life

Ross was born on October 15, 1919, in Momence, Illinois, the son of Mr. and Mrs. J. R. Ross of 1825 Garden Street, West Lafayette, Indiana. He spent most of his early life in West Lafayette. About 1932, his family moved to a farm in Linden, Montgomery Country, Indiana. He attended all four years in Linden High School and graduated in 1936.[8] Malcolm Ross received a scholarship to attend Purdue University to study civil engineering. While at Purdue, he worked at the campus radio station as a sports announcer and changed his major to creative writing, communication, and radio. However, Malcolm Ross graduated from Purdue in June 1941 with a BS in physics. After college, he married his high school sweetheart, Marjorie Martin(December 12, 1918-March 20, 2023) and took broadcasting jobs in Anderson, Chicago, and Indianapolis.[9]

In January 1943, Ross was commissioned as an ensign in the United States Naval Reserve. After he completed two months training at the Quonset Point Naval Air Station in Rhode Island, the Navy sent him to graduate school for nine months training in physics and general meteorology at the University of Chicago. In June 1944, he completed the training with a professional certificate in meteorology and atmospheric science.

The Navy initially assigned Ross to the Fleet Weather Center at Pearl Harbor. Later he served as the aerology officer aboard the USS Saratoga while it was flying missions against Tokyo and Iwo Jima in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II, from 1944 to 1945. Ross received a campaign star in his Pacific Theater Ribbon for the first carrier plane strike at Tokyo in February 1945 and for the Iwo Jima invasion.

After World War II ended, Ross was released from the military. He returned to civilian life and opened an advertising agency in Pasadena, California, where his wife, Marjorie, had moved during World War II. Marjorie worked in the agency as the office manager. The business continued successfully until June 1950, when Ross was recalled to active duty for the Korean War as a lieutenant in the United States Naval Reserve. Initially, Malcolm Ross was stationed as an instructor in radiological defense for the Naval Damage Control Training Center at Treasure Island, in San Francisco. From there he was able to commute home during weekends to spend time with his family and maintain the advertising business. This came to an end when in 1951 the Navy reassigned Ross to work as the liaison officer for the Office of Naval Research in Minneapolis.

The Navy's unmanned balloon program, Project Skyhook, was based in Minneapolis, which was also a center of balloon research and development being carried out by the University of Minnesota and General Mills.[10] In 1953, Ross was transferred to the air branch of the Office of Naval Research (ONR) in Washington, D.C., as balloon projects director. In this position, he began to direct high-altitude balloon projects to obtain cosmic ray and meteorological data with the Project Skyhook program, working with Ruby Ward as the contracts negotiator of the ONR. Ross was technical director for Project Churchy,[lower-alpha 3][11][lower-alpha 4] an expedition to the Galápagos Islands to obtain cosmic ray and meteorological data from balloon flights. He arranged for balloon launchings at Goodfellow Air Force Base in 1954 and 1955. He was a member of the scientific group that launched balloons for the ONR at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, and photographed the 1954 eclipse of the sun from a Skyhook balloon over Minneapolis.

Grave at Arlington National Cemetery

During his tour as ONR's Balloon Projects Officer, Ross initiated the Navy's manned balloon program, Project Strato-Lab, in 1954. The Strato-Lab program utilized the new plastic high-altitude balloons for upper atmosphere research. At this time, Ross became the first active duty military officer qualified and licensed as a free balloon pilot based solely on plastic balloon experience. Ross went on inactive duty in 1955 as a Lieutenant Commander (USNR). As a physicist in the Air Branch of the ONR, Ross specialized in the physics of the upper atmosphere and participated in Strato-Lab flights both as a civilian and as a naval officer. As the key participant in Project Strato-Lab, he spent more than 100 hours with scientists and other balloonists making observations in the stratosphere. At the time of the record-setting flight in 1961, Malcolm Ross was a Commander in the Naval Reserve.

In 1957, Ross received the Navy League's newly established Rear Admiral William S. Parsons Award for Scientific and Technical Progress, and the Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Award. In 1958, jointly with Lieutenant Commander Morton Lee Lewis, he received the Harmon International Trophy (Aeronaut) for the November 8, 1956, record-breaking flight. In 1962, jointly with Victor Prather, he received the Harmon Trophy again for the record-holding flight in 1961 to 21.5 miles (34.6 km). Ross never flew in balloons again after the 1961 flight, although he continued to advocate using balloons as relatively inexpensive platforms for scientific investigations.[13]

Ross retired from the US Naval Reserve as a captain on July 1, 1973. After leaving the Office of Naval Research, Malcolm Ross worked in space research at General Motors. Later on he became a stock brokerage executive for Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner and Smith, Inc. and served as assistant vice president and account executive at the Bloomfield Hills branch.

Ross died at home in Birmingham, Michigan, and is buried with his wife Marjorie at Arlington National Cemetery.[14]

Balloon flights

The following table describes Malcolm Ross's balloon flights.

More information Date, Altitude ...

Awards and accolades

More information Awards and achievements ...

See also

Notes

  1. The 1961 flight is still current for the FAI General Altitude (#1032, AA-15 Gas balloons: 22,000 m³ and above) and Absolute Altitude (#2325) records for balloon flight. The flight ceiling was broken by the parachutists Nick Piantanida in 1966, Felix Baumgartner in 2012,[5] and Alan Eustace in 2014,[6] but the FAI balloon flight records still stand as none of the parachutists descended with the balloon.[4]
  2. Nicholas Piantanida, while attempting to set a new skydiving jump record, is claimed to have reached 123,800 feet (37.73 km) on February 2, 1966. Piantanida was unable to disconnect his breathing apparatus from the gondola, so the ground crew jettisoned the balloon at the flight ceiling.[7] The 1966 ascent did not set a flight record because the gondola descended without the balloon.
  3. During the late summer of 1953 the Navy conducted cosmic ray experiments in Project Mushrat in the vicinity of Frobisher Bay, above Labrador. In September 1953 it engaged in Project Churchy near the Equator in the vicinity of the Galapagos Islands.[10]
  4. Walt Kelly gave permission to use the name of one of the principal characters of his comic strip Pogo, in reference to the turtles on the Galapagos Islands.[12]
  5. John Scoville Hall (1908-1991) in 1958 was in the last year of his tenure as the director of the Equatorial Division (soon after renamed Astronomy and Astrophysics) of the U.S. Naval Observatory. That year Hall left the Naval Observatory to become director of the Lowell Observatory for 19 years.[35]
  6. Based on correspondence with Brian Summers of the Museum of the Broadcast Television Camera, probably a version of the 333 or 334 Dage camera.[41]

References

  1. [1]
    National Personnel Records Center, FOI request 1-7062411857, 1/21/2010; Branches of Service: USN/USNR; Dates of Service: Enlisted Service 2/22/1943-3/4/1946, Reserves 3/5/1946-9/10/1950, Officer Service 9/11/1950-12/26/1955, Reserves 12/27/1955-7/1/1973; Rank/Grade: Captain/06; Place of Burial: Arlington National Cemetery.
  2. [2]
    "Ross, Malcolm David, CAPT". Together We Served. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  3. [3]
    Robert Recks. "Who's Who of Ballooning (-R-)". Retrieved 2009-01-14.
  4. [4]
    "Malcolm Ross, Ballooning World Records, AA-15 (1032) and A-Absolute (2325)". Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI). Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  5. [5]
    "Felix Baumgartner, Parachuting World Records". Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI). 14 October 2012. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  6. [6]
    "Alan Eustace, Parachuting World Records". Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI). 24 October 2014. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  7. [7]
    Ryan, Craig (2003). "Strato Jump II: Second Chance". Magnificent Failure: Free Fall from the Edge of Space. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books. pp. 117–178. ISBN 1-58834-141-0.
  8. [8]
    Wilson, Winfrey & McDole 2012.
  9. [9]
    Norberg 2003, p. 289.
  10. [10]
    "Trip to Outer Space in Navy Skyhook" (PDF). The Official Website of the United States Navy. Office of Navy Personnel (NAVPERS-O). December 1953. pp. 10–11. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-08-09. Retrieved 2014-08-08.
  11. [11]
    Jack Keane (March 2014). "VP-45 & Project "CHURCHY" in the 1950s" (PDF). Patrol Squadron Forty-Five (VP-45) Association. The VP-45 Association's Pelican Post Newsletter. The Pelican Post of Patron Four Five Association. pp. 26–28. Retrieved 2014-08-08.
  12. [12]
    "Project Churchy" (PDF). Patrol Squadron Forty-Five (VP-45) Association. Newsletter and Roster #15. The Pelican Post of Patron Four Five Association. April 1995. p. 6. Retrieved 2014-08-11.
  13. [13]
    Shirley Thomas, Men of Space: Profiles of the Leaders in Space Research, Development, and Exploration p 136
  14. [14]
    "Ross, Malcolm D". ANC Explorer. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
  15. [15]
    Naval Historical Center (Department of the Navy). "Navy in Space Chronology, 1945–1981". Archived from the original on 2009-04-01. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
  16. [16]
    "To 76,000 Feet by Strato-Lab Balloon, by Lt Comdrs. Malcolm D. Ross, USNR, and M. Lee Lewis, USN; National Geographic Magazine, vol 111, no 2, February 1957, pp. 269–282.
  17. [17]
    Colin Babb, Office of Naval Research (8 November 2014). "Stratolab Balloon Sets World Altitude Record in 1956". The Sextant. Naval History and Heritage Command. Archived from the original on 8 December 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  18. [18]
    "Balloonists Soar to 76,000 Feet, Then Survive Out-of-Control Fall; Plastic Navy Craft Breaks Record in Flight From South Dakota Hills BALLOON CLIMBS TO 14-MILE HEIGHT". The New York Times. November 9, 1956. pp. 1, 58. Retrieved 2018-08-27.
  19. [19]
    Technical Information Office, ONR (May 1958). "The Stratolab program of the Office of Naval Research (p 4, The Strato-Lab Phase)". Press Release, Office of Naval Research, Washington, DC.
  20. [20]
    "Three Fliers Win Harmon Awards: Honored for Aerial Achievements". The New York Times. August 11, 1957. p. 15. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
  21. [21]
    Gregory P. Kennedy. "Chronology of Human Space Exploration Part 3: 1956–1960". Archived from the original on 2009-02-17. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
  22. [22]
    Loyd S. Swenson Jr.; James M. Grimwood; Charles C. Alexander. "Chapter 2, Exploring the Human Factor (1948–1958) in This New Ocean: A History of Project Mercury". Retrieved 2009-01-14.
  23. [23]
    Roy A. Grossnick. "Part 8, The New Navy: 1954–1959, in United States Naval Aviation 1910–1995" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-05-07. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
  24. [24]
    Kathleen Hedges. "C. B. Moore Receives Ph.D." Archived from the original on 2010-05-27. Retrieved 2009-12-25.
  25. [25]
    US Centennial of Flight Commission. "Balloons as Forerunners of Spaceflight and Exploration". Archived from the original on 2009-01-17. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
  26. [26]
    FAI webshop; CIA products. "CIA Notable Achievements – From historic times to 2004: 7. Flights 1951 to 1975". Retrieved 2009-01-14.
  27. [27]
    Stratocat. "Stratospheric Balloon Launch Bases and Sites: Portsmouth, Feign and Mangan-Joan Mines". Retrieved 2011-02-02.
  28. [28]
    Eckstrom, R. M. (October 6, 1959). "Final Report: Strato-Lab Mikesell No.1" (PDF). Minneapolis, MN: Mechanical Division of General Mills. GMI Report No. B-1077. Retrieved 2015-03-19 – via Office of Naval Research, Department of the Navy.
  29. [29]
    Mikesell, Alfred Hougham (October 6, 1959). "Slide show with audio narrative: Strato-Lab Mikesell No.1". Ironton, MN. Retrieved 2015-08-31 – via Office of Naval Research, Department of the Navy.
  30. [30]
    "Observations of Stellar Scintillation from Moving Platforms", Mikesell, A. H. The Astronomical Journal, September 1958, Vol. 63, pp. 308–309
  31. [31]
    Mikesell, A. H. (January 1960). "Star Visibility in Daylight at High Altitudes". Journal of the Optical Society of America. 50 (1). The Optical Society of America: 85. doi:10.1364/JOSA.50.000085.
  32. [32]
    Alfred H. Mikesell (oral communication), February 28, 2008
  33. [33]
    Jakeman, E.; Parry, G; Pike, E. R.; Pusey, P. N. (March 1978). "The twinkling of stars". Contemporary Physics. 19 (2). Taylor & Francis: 127–145. Bibcode:1978ConPh..19..127J. doi:10.1080/00107517808210877.
  34. [34]
    "Mr Skyhook". Naval Research Reviews. Washington D.C.: Office of Naval Research, Department of the Navy: 26. August 1959. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  35. [35]
    Millis, R. L. (1992). "Obituary: John Scoville Hall, 1908-1991". Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society. 24 (4). American Astronomical Society: 1323–1325. Bibcode:1992BAAS...24.1323M. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
  36. [36]
    Dick, Stephen J (15 August 1988). "Alfred Mikesell, Interview No 6: The Death of Lewis" (PDF). Transcript from U.S. Naval Observatory Oral History Program: 153, 165. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
  37. [37]
    Foster, D. L.; Lewis, M. Lee (May 25, 1959). Strato-Lab High no. 3 Post Flight Report (Report). Minneapolis, MN: Winzen Research.
  38. [38]
    "Strato-Lab High #3, Pilot's Narrative Report of Flight," by CDR Malcolm D. Ross, Office of Naval Research, October 24, 1958; prepared for inclusion in Technical Report of Strato-Lab High #3 by Winzen Research.
  39. [39]
    Unidentified photographer (Purdue University Libraries, Archives and Special Collections). "M.D. Ross prepares to go aloft". Retrieved 2009-01-14.
  40. [40]
    "Balloon Sends TV from 15 Miles Up". The New York Times. July 27, 1958. p. 38. Retrieved 2018-08-27.
  41. [41]
    "Dage Teletran portable radio camera". Retrieved 2009-12-24.
  42. [42]
    David DeVorkin (Niels Bohr Library & Archives). "Oral History Transcript — Dr. Gordon Newkirk". Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2011-02-02.
  43. [43]
    Winzen Research Technical Staff (September 15, 1961). "Final Report: Strato-Lab Open Gondola High Altitude Observatory Balloon Flight No. 1" (PDF). Defense Technical Information Center. Report No. 1268-R. Washington, D.C.: Office of Naval Research Air Branch, Code 461 Department of the Navy. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 2, 2015. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  44. [44]
    Time (magazine) (December 14, 1959). "Shivering Look at Venus". Archived from the original on February 1, 2011. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  45. [45]
    Vaeth, J. Gordon (2005). They Sailed the Skies: U.S. Navy Balloons and the Airship Program. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD. pp. 143–144. ISBN 1-59114-914-2.
  46. [46]
    Strong, M. D.; Ross, Malcolm D.; Moore, C. B. (1960), "Abstract", J. Geophys. Res., 65: 2526, doi:10.1029/JZ065i008p02471
  47. [47]
    Ryan 1995, p. 233.
  48. [48]
    "Balloonists Set Mark; One Killed". The New York Times. Vol. 110, no. 37722. May 5, 1961. pp. 1, 12. Retrieved 2018-08-27.
  49. [49]
    Eng, Cassandra (1997). Elert, Glenn (ed.). "Altitude of the highest manned balloon flight". The Physics Factbook. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
  50. [50]
    Gregory P. Kennedy. Touching Space: The story of Project Manhigh. Schiffer Books.
  51. [51]
    Naval Aviation News Editorial Staff. "Space and the United States Navy: Manned Space" (PDF). Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 2015-03-20.
  52. [52]
    Winzen Research (April 4, 1961). Final Operation Plan for StratoLab High #5 (Report). Minneapolis, MN: Winzen Research. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  53. [53]
    Herman, J.K (October 1998). "Strato-Lab High 5: Triumph and Tragedy". Navy Medicine. 89 (5). U.S. Navy. Bureau of Medicine and Surgery: 6–11. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  54. [54]
    US Centennial of Flight Commission. "Higher, Farther, and Longer — Record Balloon Flights in the Second Part of the Twentieth Century". Archived from the original on 2003-04-30. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
  55. [55]
    "President Gives Harmon Trophies: Three Pilots and Widow of Another Get Awards". The New York Times. October 19, 1962. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
  56. [56]
    "Malcolm D. Ross, Distinguished Flying Cross". Hall of Valor. Military Times. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  57. [57]
    "AMS Awards Search Result for Award=Special Award, Year=1960, Last name=Ross". Retrieved 2015-07-07.

Bibliography

  • Beischer, Dietrich E.; Fregly, Alfred R. (1962). Animals and Man in Space. A Chronology and Annotated Bibliography through the Year 1960. Defense Technical Information Center (Report). Washington, DC: Office of Naval Research, Department of the Navy. ONR Report ACR64 - AD272581. Archived from the original (pdf) on March 3, 2016. Retrieved 2015-03-19.
  • Brady, Tim (2001). The American Aviation Experience: A History. Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press. pp. 318–319. ISBN 0-8093-2325-7.
  • Childs, Captain Donald R. (22 April 1960). "High Altitude Balloon Research and Development Programs". United States Navy Medical Newsletter. 35 (8). U.S. Navy. Bureau of Medicine and Surgery: 28–35. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  • Kennedy, Gregory P. (2007). Touching Space: The Story of Project Manhigh. Atglen, Pennsylvania: A Schiffer Military History Book, Schiffer Books. ISBN 978-0-7643-2788-9.
  • Kennedy, Gregory (2018-02-25). "Stratolab, an Evolutionary Stratospheric Balloon Project". Stratocat. Luis E. Pacheco. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  • Herman, Jan (1995). Stratolab: The Navy's High-Altitude Balloon Research. Internet Archive (Report). Retrieved 2015-06-19.
  • Norberg, John (2003). Wings of Their Dreams: Purdue in Flight. West Lafayette, Indiana: Purdue University Press. pp. 287–302. ISBN 1-55753-362-8.
  • Ross, Malcolm; Lewis, M. Lee (February 1957). "To 76,000 Feet by Strato-Lab Balloon". National Geographic Magazine. 111 (2). Washington, D.C.: The National Geographic Society: 269–282. Retrieved 2015-03-26.[dead link]
  • Ross, Malcolm (January 31, 1958). Plastic Balloons for Planetary Research. Fourth Annual Meeting of the American Astronautical Society, New York, NY. Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Meeting of the AAS. Advances in astronautical sciences. Vol. 2. New York: Distributed by Plenum Press.
  • Ross, Malcolm; Lewis, M. Lee (1958). "The Role of Manned Balloons in the Exploration of Space". Institute of Aeronautical Sciences. Reprint #834. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  • Ross, Malcolm; Lewis, M. Lee (June 1958). "The Strato-Lab Balloon System for High Altitude Research". The Journal of Aviation Medicine. 29 (5): 375–385. PMID 13538912.
  • Ross, Malcolm (May 1959). "Reactions of a Balloon Crew in a Controlled Environment". The Journal of Aviation Medicine. 30 (3). Aerospace Medical Association: 326–333. PMID 13654207. Retrieved 2015-03-27.
  • Ross, Malcolm; Edwards, Walter (November 1961). "Project Strato-Lab High 5: We Saw the World from the Edge of Space". National Geographic Magazine. 120 (5). Washington, D.C.: The National Geographic Society: 671–685. Retrieved 2015-03-26.[dead link]
  • Ross, Malcolm (May 8–10, 1962). A Consideration of the U.S. Navy Strato-Lab Balloon Program and Its Contributions to Manned Space Flight. Second National Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Space, Seattle, WA. Proceedings of the Second National Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Space. Washington, D.C.: NASA. p. 261. SP-8.
  • Ryan, Craig (1995). The Pre-Astronauts: Manned Ballooning on the Threshold of Space. Annapolis: US Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-732-5.
  • Shayler, David J. (2000). Disasters and Accidents in Manned Space Flight. Berlin: Springer. ISBN 1-85233-225-5.
  • Wilson, Jodie Steelman; Winfrey, Emily Griffin; McDole, Rebecca (2012). "The Highest Achiever of Linden High School". Hidden History of Montgomery County, Indiana. Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK: The History Press. pp. 8–16. ISBN 978-1609495220.

Malcolm Ross Papers

  • Malcolm D. Ross Papers including photographs, notes, correspondence, and medical records, are archived at the Smithsonian Institution, NASM Archives Accession No. 1998-0048. National Air and Space Museum. Archives Division MRC 322, Washington, D.C., 20560

Records

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Malcolm Ross (balloonist).
More information Records ...
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Malcolm_Ross_(balloonist), and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.