{{Short description|1950s U.S. Air Force aero-medical research program}} thumb|upright|Manhigh II balloon gondola displayed at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio right|thumb|As displayed in 2018
'''Project Manhigh''' was a pre-Space Age military project that took men in 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 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 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 David G. Simons on August 19–20, 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 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 crewed 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