This is my collection of balloon flight covers made for National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) / National Scientific Balloon Facility (NSBF) launch events held in Palestine, Texas USA in the 1960s/1970s. Information is provided about each event including the scientists involved and the purpose(s) of the mission. One of the cachet designs is by Charles Riser (of Andromeda / Cygnus covers), which is what drew me to these covers in the first place. The designs are often printed in different colours and a unique aspect of these covers is that they show the actual time of launch. I think I have about half of the approximately 400-450 different event covers that could exist (not taking into account colour variations etc). More scans to come !
Based on the collectSPACE article (see link below), I think most of the pre-1970 covers shown here were made by Robert Boudwin. Can anyone help with some information about them ? I’m interested in buying covers from this pre-1970 period.
Then “In late 1970 Ruth Ward from Palestine began servicing covers for the majority of flights from Palestine including … a few missions where covers were flown on board the balloon. Several of the flights were also related to the space shuttle development. She used two or three basic cachet designs … with specific mission information added. The last Ward cover … is for a flight on December 2, 1977.”
Some more information about these interesting covers can be found on the excellent collectSPACE website here.
Another terrific online resource is the StratoCat website by Luis Pacheco. Luis has been working on his website for over 15 years & it contains historical information about more than 15,000 balloon launches since 1947. It discusses many of the balloon flights shown here and i’d highly recommend checking it out !
For more general information about the NSBF in the 1970s i’d also recommend having a look through the online digital collection on the UCAR Opensky website, in particular the old annual reports and newsletters. I’m in the process of compiling the relevant date & event information into a single document which might be useful for other collectors of these covers.
1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977
1962 | Back to Year choices
3rd High Altitude Balloon Launch from Palestine TX – 24th Aug 1962:
Stratoscope II Launch – 12th Dec 1962:
1963 | Back to Year choices
Stratoscope Balloon II – 1st Mar 1963
Micro-meteorite collector carried on top of the balloon. Experiment to be conducted at 100,000 feet for 8 hours – 13th Aug 1963
1964 | Back to Year choices
Cosmic Ray Flight for the Graduate Research Center of the Southwest in Dallas – 13th May 1964
Cosmic Ray Launches for the Case Institute of Ohio and the University of Rochester of New York – 23rd Jun 1964
Cosmic Ray Flight for Case Institute of Ohio – 25th Jun 1964
Water Vapor Flight for the Ballistic Research Laboratories at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland – 7th Jul 1964
Cosmic Ray Flight for the Naval Research Laboratories – 14th Jul 1964
Cosmic Ray Experiment Flight for University of Minnesota – 18th Sep 1964
Cosmic Ray Study Flight for New York University – 22nd Sep 1964
Cosmic Ray Study Flight for University of Rochester – 1st Oct 1964
Soft X-Ray Radiation Flight for Lawrence Radiation Laboratory – 23rd Oct 1964
Balloon Flight to Make an Oxygen Spectrum Study for Massachusetts Institute of Technology – 29th Oct 1964
Cosmic Ray Study Flight for the University of Carolina – 10th Nov 1964
1965 | Back to Year choices
Balloon Launched from Page, Arizona – 14th Jan 1965
Launch by NCAR Boulder Colorado, Coordinated With the Flight of a B57 to Collect Air Samples at Various Heights During Balloon Descent – 15th Mar 1965
Balloon Ascent Problem Probe Flight by NCAR – 6th May 1965
1966 | Back to Year choices
Stratoscope II Launch by Princeton University to Photograph Planets and Celestial Objects – 14th May 1966
MICROMETEORITE DUST COLLECTOR – 10th Jun 1966
OXYGEN MEASURING EXPERIMENT – 26th Aug 1966
X-RAY FLUX FROM STAR REMNANTS – 21st Sep 1966
FAR INFRARED TELESCOPE – 2nd Nov 1966
SESAME (Micrometeorite Collector) – 17th Nov 1966
DUMMY LOAD FLIGHT TEST – 9th Dec 1966
1967 | Back to Year choices
IONIZATION SPECTROMETER – 5th Jan 1967
INFRARED CORONAGRAPH – 9th Jan 1967
TELEMETRY SYSTEM TEST FLIGHT FOR RAVEN INDUSTRIES OF SOUTH DAKOTA – 17th Mar 1967
LAUNCHING FOR DR. ROCHUS VOGT OF CALIF. INST. OF TECHNOLOGY FOR RADIATION STUDIES – 7th Apr 1967
LAUNCHING FOR DR. ROCHUS VOGT OF CALIF. INST. OF TECH. TO MEASURE ELECTRONIC SPECTRUM WITH PROTOTYPE SATELLITE EQUIPMENT – 8th Apr 1967
A LARGE AREA X-RAY TELESCOPE FLIGHT FOR DR. WM. WEBBER OF THE UNIV. OF MINNESOTA. – 16th May 1967
FLIGHT FOR DR. PETER FOWLER OF UNIV. OF BRISTOL, ENGLAND TO DETECT CHARGED HIGH ENERGY PARTICALS. – 17th May 1967
GAMMA RAY DETECTION FOR DR. E.L. CHUPP OF THE UNIV. OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. – 23rd May 1967
FLIGHT FOR WASHINGTON UNIV. OF ST. LOUIS TO SEARCH FOR HIGH ENERGY GAMMA RAYS. – 29th May 1967
LARGE AREA X-RAY TELESCOPE EXPERIMENT FOR DR. WILLIAM WEBBER OF UNIV. OF MINN. – 3rd Jun 1967
CRAB NEBULU RADIATION DETECTION FLIGHT FOR DR. R. HAYNES OF RICE UNIV. – 4th Jun 1967
COSMIC RAY STUDY FOR DR. L PETERSON OF UNIV. OF CALIF. SAN DIEGO. – 7th Jun 1967
FLIGHT FOR DR. E.C. CHUPP OF UNIV. OF NEW HAMPSHIRE TO UTILIZE GAMMA RAY DETECTION. – 8th Jun 1967
FLIGHT FOR DR. R.W. HUGGETT OF L.S.U. TO MEASURE INTERACTION OF ULTRA HIGH ENERGY PARTICALS. – 9th Jun 1967
DUDLEY OBSERVATORY MICRO-METEARITE COLLECTION FLIGHT. – 9th Jun 1967
NEUTRON DETECTOR EXPERIMENT FOR DR. E.L. CHUPP OF THE UNIV. OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. – 14th Jun 1967
GAMMA RAY STUDY FOR DR. LARRY PETERSON OF THE UNIV. OF CALIF. – 15th Jun 1967
FLIGHT FOR N.C.A.R. TO TEST ABILITY OF TRACKING EQUIPMENT. – 15th Jun 1967
GAMMA RAY STUDY FOR DR. JAMES OVERBECK OF M.I.T. – 26th Jun 1967
FLIGHT FOR DR E. EBHART OF N.C.A.R., BOULDER, COLO. COLLECT AIR SAMPLES. – 12th Jul 1967
TWIN X RAY TELESCOPE FLIGHT FOR N.A.S.A. DR BOLDT OF GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER, TO OBSERVE CRAB NEBULA AND SUN: – 15th Jul 1967
L.S.C. TO MEASURE ENTERACTION OF ULTRA HIGH ENERGY PARTICLES – 16th Jul 1967
DR FRY OF CASE INSTITUTION TO MEASURE HIGH ENERGY NEUTRONS – 28th Jul 1967
1968 | Back to Year choices
TO OBSERVE CRAB NEBULA – 5th Apr 1968
STRATASCOPE II – 18th May 1968
STUDY OF CONCENTRATION OF COSMIC X-RAY SOURCE NEAR THE GALACTIC CENTER. – 4th Jun 1968
TO COLLECT MICRO METEARITE PARTICLES. – 11th Jun 1968
SPEKTROSTRATOSKOP – 19th Nov 1968
1970 | Back to Year choices
Launch for measurement of night sky brightness by Landessternwarte Heidelberg Germany – 2nd Oct 1970
Launch for measurement of night sky brightness – 10th Oct 1970
Study of Hi-energy Gamma Ray Spark Chamber – 14th / 20th Oct 1970
Studies of the Crab Nebula Pulsar and M-87 by Tony Smathers and Jim Kurfess – 14th (?) Oct 1970
Gamma-ray observations of Crab Pulsar by Naval Research Lab – 17th Oct 1970
Observation of Cosmic X Ray – 20th Oct 1970 7:21am
Measurements of Crab Nebula Pulsar – 20th Oct 1970 9:53pm
1971 | Back to Year choices
To test an Omega radio dropsonde wind measurement system – 19th Jan 1971 9:30am
To observe x- & gamma rays from (Tau XR-1) the crab Nebula with a Spectrometer – 26th Jan 1971 5:45pm
100-inch Gas-Chevenkov telescope to measure gamma radiation – 13th Feb 1971 6:31pm
Study of 4.1 circumsolar dust feature at 3 wavelengths – 10th Mar 1971 6:57am
The LOFT antenna and camera instrument package. To be flown later, on an Aerobee Rocket – 10th Mar 1971 1:46pm
Sky survey for discrete celestial sources of far-infrared radiation – 11th Mar 1971 6:24pm
A 12″ telescope to measure & map dust clouds in the galaxy – 7th Apr 1971 6:35pm
2nd test, to observe planets, stars and galaxies in the far infrared – 13th Apr 1971 6:10pm
For high-resolution spectral observations of the sun in the near infrared – 21st Apr 1971 3:50am
Spark chamber experiment for the measurement of the energy spectrum at 100,000 ft – 1st May 1971 6:30am
To sample 500,000 ft (?) of ambient air at 115,000ft. And collect samples of interplanetary dust from the collissions of asteroids – 2nd May 1971 7:09am
A cosmic ray survey using a small super conducting magnet – 7th May 1971 7:57pm
To observe X-ray & gamma rays from the cosmic x-ray source Scorpius XR-1 – 11th May 1971 7:24pm
The experiment should provide data on the earth’s atmosphere above 90k ft altitude – 13th May 1971 6:16am
Large area plastic emulsion stack (30?) – 19th May 1971 9:15pm
Search for solar neutrons produced during flares, experiment No. 2 – 25th May 1971 6:36am
Large area plastic emulsion stack (75M) No. 2 – 25th May 1971 3(or8):00pm
Attempt to measure the spectrum of isotropic cosmic blackbody radiation at 1mm wavelengths – 5th Jun 1971 8:08pm
A 40Cm, telescope with a Cassegrainian optical path – 6th Jun 1971 8:04 pm
Gas carenkov detector to search for gamma radiation from the crab nebula – 15th Jun 1971 6:45am
NO.1 Search for cosmic gamma rays from Crab Nebula and Galactic plane – 16th Jun 1971 7:12am
Using a 30 mc:ft(?) balloon for a 2nd gamma ray experiment – 26th Jun 1971 6:30am
A x ray and gamma ray experiment to investigate the electromagnetic radiation from celestial objects – 2nd July 1971 7:14am
Using a 30mc:ft balloon for measurement of atmospheric neutron intensity – 7th Jul 1971 6:45am
A x ray and gamma ray experiment to investigate the electromagnetic radiation from celestial objects (Flt 2) – 13th Jul 1971 8:15pm
Using a 30mc.ft balloon for measurement of atmospheric neutron intensity – 7th Aug 1971 8:20pm
Observation of Crab Nebule and upper atmosphere gamma ray environment – 8th Aug 1971 4:04am
Search for point sources of gamma radiation – 20th Sep 1971 3:18pm
Measuring the energy spectra in the cosmic rays – 28th Sep 1971 7:04pm
Using a large 100-in Cherenkov telescope in gamma ray astronomy – 6th Oct 1971 5:45am
Using a spectrometer telescope to observe Mg. 2 spectral lines of stars – 7th Oct 1971 5:55pm
Using spark chamber gamma ray defectors – 2nd Nov 1971 8:37pm
Measurement of low energy gamma ray production – 5th Nov 1971 6:48am
For the study of 730 mev gamma rays – 10th Nov 1971 6:44am
For the study of 730 mev gamma rays – 11th Nov 1971 6:44am
For the study of stars and gamma rays – 20th Nov 1971 6:28am
Engineering flight for study of background gamma rays – 10th Dec 1971 5:44pm
1972 | Back to Year choices
Flight for study of gamma rays from Crab Nebula – 15th Jan 1972 5:17pm
Xray Polarimeter to measure polarization of x-rays from Crab Nebula – 4th Feb 1972 3:50pm
Look at high energy, gamma and x-ray from the Cygnus – 18th Feb 1972 7:43am
To study Jupiter, using spark chamber gamma ray detector – 1st Apr 1972 / 31st Mar 1972 11:25pm
Terrestrial clouds provide the particulates needed for this test – 15th Apr 1972 6:50am
To observe the ultra violet spectra of stars, to study their formation & evolution – 3rd May 1972 6:45pm
Electronic detector to observe the chemical composition of Cosmic rays – 4th May 1972 6:56pm
3 Telescopes to make solar observations of ultraviolet – 9th May 1972 7:15pm
Measurement of surface brightness of milky way – 13th May 1972 8:03pm
Pulsed x-ray detector solar and albedo neutrons – 14th May 1972 7:46am
Gamma ray telescope to observe the Crab Nebula – 19th May 1972 7:12pm
X-ray to observe extra galactic objects – 4th Jun 1972 7:37pm
A study of atmospheric composition – 6th Jun 1972 6:53am
X-ray observation of the spectrum & stars – 10th Jun 1972 7:36pm
To study x-rays emitted by pulsars from the Crab Nebula and Virgo region – 17th Jun 1972 6:30am
An onboard guidance system aimed at the x-ray star Cygnus X-1 will help to observe it for 6 to 8 hours – 19th Jun 1972 8:52pm
X-ray obesrvations of the spectrm & stars – 22nd Jun 1972 8:40pm No 2
Observing galaxies & infrared stars with a 12 in telescope – 23rd Jun 1972 8:07pm
Observing galaxies & infrared stars with a 12 in. telescope – 28th Jun 1972 7:50pm
Observing the infrared solar radiation above the earths atmosphere with a spectral resolution – 1st Aug 1972 5:27am
Using a spark chamber to look for high energy neutrons – 5th Aug 1972 7:10am
Observing the infrared solar radiation above the earths atmosphere with a spectral resolution – 11th Aug 1972 4:42am
Far infrared observations of astronomical sources using a telescope – 28th Aug 1972 7:42pm
Observation of spectrum and temporal variations of Cygnus x-3 – 30th Aug 1972 4:42pm
A 16″ telescope in a far-infrared survey of the galactic plane – 6th Sep 1972 7:37pm
A gas cherenkov telescope to search for gamma rays in Cygnus area – 9th Sep 1972 7:04pm
Using a spark chamber to look for high energy neutrons – 12th Sep 1972 8:52pm
High resolution ultraviolet spectrograph to measure emissions from stars – 18th Sep 1972 6:03pm
Develop new techniques in low energy gamma ray astronomy – 22nd Sep 1972 9:38pm
To measure the energy of cosmic electrons over Texas – 27th Sep 1972 6:50pm
To measure the broadband fluxes from several sources – 28th Sep 1972 5:56pm
Measurement of cosmic ray electron flux & energy spectrum – 28th Sep 1972 7:44pm
Search for anti-nuclei in the primary cosmic rays using a spectrometer – 30th Sep 1972 9:05pm
To measure the spectrum of the isot_??_ background radiation at 144,000ft – 2nd Oct 1972 6:56pm
Measurement of the cosmic ray and energy spectrum – 3rd Oct 1972 10:56pm
Spectrograph to measure UV emissions of certain stars – 4th Oct 1972 6:35pm
A high energy telescope developed at the U – 5th Oct 1972 5:23pm
Observation of infrared radiation from galectic objects – 9th Oct 1972 6:52pm
A 40in. telescope will float at 85,000ft, to look at the far infrared spectrum – 10th Oct 1972 8:14pm
An ionization spectrometer to determine the energy of cosmic rays – 12th Oct 1972 6:34pm
Observation of the cygnus region for gamma radiation – 13th Oct 1972 5:56pm
A 28 in. telescope carried to 100,000 ft. for observations – 14th Oct 1972 6:26pm
Using the nimbus satellite selective chopper radiometer – 16th Oct 1972 10:12am
The infrared photometer for the balloon-borne telescope thisbe – 23rd Oct 1972 1:50am
A magnetic spectrometer used to measure cosmic ray nuclei – 2nd Nov 1972 5:15pm
To study the composition of heavy cosmic-rays at high energies – 4th Nov 1972 8:52am
To measure low energy gamma radiation of several objects with a new telescope – 5th Nov 1972 12:15am
An x-ray detector for background investigation – 1st Dec 1972 6:41am
1973 | Back to Year choices
Low energy detector to monitor x-ray flux – 4th Jan 1973 7:41am
Collecting interplantary dust at 115,000ft – 24th Jan 1973 7:32am
Detector of x-rays from celestial sources – 26th Jan 1973 11:45pm
INFRA-RED TELESCOPE – 6th Feb 1973 5:18pm
To develop Neon flash tubes as detectors – 15th Feb 1973 6:40am
A gamma ray telescope, 2 scintillators 20 in. apart – 27th Feb 1973 6:48am
A telescope for study of primary cosmic radiation – 28th Feb 1973 6:57am
To measure background gamma ray radiation – 21st Mar 1973 6:16pm
Measuring microwave emission from atmospheric oxygen – 27th Mar 1973 6:28am
To measure temperature of atmosphere on global scale – 2nd Apr 1973 – 6:28am
To investigate celestial sources of far infra-red radiation in the Orion Nebula & the center of our Galaxy – 5th Apr 1973 6:05pm
Observation in the far infra-red, for mapping particular sources – 25th Apr 1973 5:57pm
High energy electron detector, employing geiger tubes, scintillators & lead – 2nd May 1973 7:08pm
High resoluion stellar observation of clouds & stars – 3rd May 1973 7:05pm
A 29″ telescope to measure the intensity of infra-red radition from planets – 4th May 1973 9:03pm
Using a 40cm. stabilized telescope for study of infra red begun in 1971 – 7th May 1973 6:58pm
A super-conducting magnetic spectrometer will measure positrons, electrons and cosmic rays – 9th May 1973 8:45pm
A balloon-borne telescope for the study of infra-red rada ition from stars – 12th May 1973 8:13pm
To verify techniques to be used in hi energy gamma-ray telescope on Astronomy Observatory – 13th May 1973 9:13am
Observation & detailed mapping of astronomical sources in the infrared – 14th May 1973 7:07pm
Measurement of low energy gamma radiation from several celestial objects, and unexplored wavelengths. 21.cm ft. balloon – 15th May 1973 7:21am
Geiger tube-Scintillator-Ceremkov Lodoscope for multiple measurements of low energy particles – 16th May 1973 7:07pm
A transit experiment on sources near zenith (Hercules X-1, Cygnus-1) will be obtained – 21st May 1973 7:07pm
Using a liquid helium-cooled interferometer to determine the spectrum – 24th May 1973 7:08pm
High energy electron detector, Geiger tube-scintillator -Ceremkov hodoscope to measure cosmic particles – 29th May 1973 6:45pm
Far infra-red observation of galactic and extra-galactic objects with a 12 in. telescope – 15th Jun 1973 8:35pm
Far infrared observation of galactic & extra-galactic objects with a infra red telescope – 16th Jun 1973 8:44pm
A high energy gamma-ray astronomy experiment devoted to a search of the Crab Nebula – 19th Jun 1973 7:00am
To measure the flux, energy spectrum & angular distribution of atmospheric fast neutrons & gamma-rays – 22nd Jun 1973 12:33am
Mapping galatic center & survey portion of the galatic plane – 22nd Jun 1973 7:42pm
To measure the X-ray flux in upper atmosphere & high altitude fair weather electric field. & a prototype rocket payload from 80km – 10th Jul 1973 7:15am
High energy gamma ray astronomy experiment, it is planned to observe the Cygnus region – 10th Jul 1973 7:51pm
A 100 inch diameter high energy gamma ray telescope, By ground command it turns toward celestial sources & records rays at 200 MeV – 23rd Jul 1973 5:54am
A magnetometer-stabilized gondola with an X-ray spectrometer, to observe the Crab-nebula & Crab-pulsar – 6th Aug 1973 4:40am
A study of the high-energy radiation properties from the sun & Crab-Nebula, made in the energy region from 50 kev. to 5 mev. – 9th Aug 1973 2:45am
Experiment . (x-10) Gamma ray telescope for the study of celestial objects in the energy region 500 kev. to 20 mev. – 8th Sep 1973 2:19am
Experiment No. 1 A sky survey using a far infra red telescope – 8th Sep 1973 8:01pm
Atmospheric Composition studies: NCAR system collects eight 4-liter air samples – 9th Sep 1973 9:24am
A search for amisotropy in the 3k. background at 1mm. wavelength Experiment no. 2 – 20th Sep 1973 6:57pm
EMULSIONS for measuring ULTRA-HIGH COSMIC RAY INTERACTION at 85k.M. – 28th Sep 1973 9:54am
To measure background radiation & time structure of emission from the Crab Pulser using a gamma-ray spark chamber detector – 28th Sep 1973 10:47pm
To obtain data on the isotopic composition of heavy cosmic ray nuclei of galactic origin – 29th Sep 1973 7:43pm
New solid cerenkov radiators of low refractive index Double ‘Launchiug’ – 1st Oct 1973 6:12pm
To measure the chemical and isotopic composition of heavy cosmic rays – 3rd Oct 1973 6:43pm
FLOWN BEFORE, THIS GAMMA RAY SPARK CHAMBER DETECTOR and TWO X-RAY DETECTORS will MEASURE RADIATION – 6th/7th Oct 1973 10:25pm
TEST FLIGHT OF LARGE AREA 20-200 hev. SCINTILLATION DETECTORS, TRANSIT OBSERVATION of HERCULES X-1 – 8th Oct 1973 8:20am
EMULSION PACKAGE 3rd launch – 8th Oct 1973 6:50pm
Information on cosmic ray sources & their propagation thru interplanetary space – 12th Oct 1973 7:11pm
A test flight of scintillation detectors. Transil observations of the cygnus region – 17th Oct 1973 7:35am
An ionization chamber to measure nitric oxide 16 to 28 Km. in the stratosphere – 17th Oct 1973 7:48pm
MULTI-EXPERIMENT with GEIGER TUBE, THERMISTOR SENSORS SPECTROMETERS, LASERS and CAMERA with other equipement for ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH – 19th Oct 1973 4:48am
AN EXPERIMENT to measure COSMIC-RAY chemical & isotopic composition – 19th Oct 1973 7:52pm
STUDY OF THE SOLAR CORONA IN THE NEAR INFRARED FROM 3 TO 13 SOLAR RADIUS – 29th Oct 1973 8:02am
THIS PAYLOAD IS A DEVICE TO COLLECT PARTICLES from COMETS – 15th Nov 1973 6:16pm
To OBSERVE the FAR INFRARED REGION of the ORION NEBULA USING A 40 IN. BALLOON-BORNE TELESCOPE. 2nd. A LOOK AT THE COMET KOHOUTEK – 10th Dec 1973 5:48pm
1974 | Back to Year choices
A 20 CM. FAR INFRA-RED TELESCOPE, TO OBSERVE GALAXIES, NEBULAS & PLANETS EMISSIONS – 12th Jan 1974 5:55pm
EXPERIMENT TO MEASURE THE LARGE SCALE ISOTROFY OF THE COSMIC BACKGROUND RADIATION IN TEH FAR INFRA-RED – 20th/21st Jan 1974 6:09pm
A 20CM. FAR INFRA-RED TELESCOPE, TO OBSERVE GALAXIES, NEBULAE & PLANET EMISSIONS – 21st Jan 1974 6:33pm
EXPERIMENT TO MEASURE THE ISOTROFY OF THE COSMIC BACK GROUND RADIATION IN THE FAR INFRA-RED ta 188(or133?),000 ft – 28th Jan 1974 6:12pm
To OBSERVE the FAR INFRARED REGION of the ORION NEBULA USING A 40 IN. BALLOON-BORNE TELESCOPE – 3rd Feb 1974 7:44pm
A SUN TRACKER ON THE BALLOON APEX POSITIONS A PAYLOAD OF SOLAR CELLS TOWARD THE SUN – 16th Feb 1974 8:23am
FLIGHT OF A COSMIC-RAY LAB. & A SUPER CONDUCTING MAGNET, TO BE USED ON A 1978 SPACE SHUTTLE – 16th Feb 1974 6:49pm
TO COLLECT LARGE SAMPLES of AIR at EIGHT LEVELS BELOW 35Km – 25th Feb 1974 8:27am
TO DETERMINE SPECTRUM OF COSMIC RADIATION IN THE 3mm TO 0.3mm WAVELENGTH, USING A INTERFEROMETER – 13th Mar 1974 7:41pm
A SUN TRACKER ON THE BALLOON APEX POSITIONS A PAYLOAD OF SOLAR CELLS TOWARD THE SUN – 5th Apr 1974 8:42am
A 30cm TELESCOPE TO MAP X-RAY SOURCES IN the CRAB NEBULA – 5th Apr 1974 7:04pm
B.U. GAS SCINTILLATOR 2) To measure the amount of heavy elements in the primary cosmic rays – 9th Apr 1974 7:26am
A SUN TRACKER ATOP THE BALLOON. & A SOLAR CELL PAYLOAD – 23rd Apr 1974 7:21am
STELLAR OBSERVATION USING A SPECTROGRAPH – 25th Apr 1974 7:29pm
TO MEASURE the 15-150 Kev. SPECTRUM OF the X-RAY PULSAR IN HERCULES – 3rd May 1974 5:50pm
USING A COSMIC GAMMA RAY BURST DETECTOR – 4th May 1974 6:39pm
TEST of A PLASTIC FUNNELL for FLTS. LAUNCHED IN EUROPE – 6th May 1974 8:07pm
THIS EXPERIMENT is to OBTAIN INFORMATION ON THE NUCLEAR COMPOSITION of PRIMARY COSMIC RAYS – 7th May 1974 8:32pm
THIS EXPERIMENT is to MEASURE THE COSMIC RAY NUCLEL from PROTONS THRU THE IRON REGION – 11th May 1974 6:40pm
USING A ULTRA-VIOLET SPECTROGRAPH FOR STELLAR OBSERVATIONS – 19th May 1974 7:17pm
FAR INFRARED, LOW BACK GROUND TELESCOPE FOR OBSERVATION of SOLAR SYSTEMS – 10th Jun 1974 7:45pm
A GAMMA RAY EXPERIMENT at 135,000 ft for 8 hours – 17th Jun 1974 7:46am
An X-RAY GONDOLA FLOWN to 135,000 ft to STUDY THE CRAB NEBULA – 17th Jun 1974 7:22pm
An X RAY GONDOLA FLOWN to 135,000 ft to STUDY THE EMISSIONS FROM GALAXIES & CRAB NEBULA. JUNE 17 M.I.T. LAUNCH WAS DR. RAY WEISS’S INFRARED RADIOMETER. I MADE A MISTAKE.- 21st Jun 1974 6:46am
A GAMMA RAY EXPERIMENT FLOWN at 135,000 ft – 11th Jul 1974 9:07am
A STUDY OF THE LOW ENERGY GAMMA RAY SPECTRUM OF THE CRAB NEBULA – 17th Jul 1974 5:40am
LOW BACKGROUND FAR-INFRARED TELESCOPE TO STUDY THE GALACTIC CENTER REGION – 23rd Jul 1974 7:53pm
OBSERVATION OF THE FODIACAL LIGHT & MILKY WAY, WITH A COOLED INFRARED PHOTOMETER – 12th Aug 1974 7:38pm
TO MEASURE THE ISOTROPY OF COSMIC BACKGROUND RADIATION IN THE SPECTRAL REGION – 13th Aug 1974 7:25pm
TO MEASURE ISOTROGY OF 3-K BACKGROUND RADIATION AT 1.5CM & 3.0CM WAVELENGTH – 22nd Aug 1974 7:12pm
TEST FLIGHT OF CARRIER BALLOON SYSTEM, SIX DROPSONDES WILL BE RELEASED – 4th Sep 1974 7:49am
OBSERVATION OF THE FODIACLA LIGHT & MILKY WAY, WITH A COOLED INFRARED PHOTOMETER – 6th Sep 1974 6:17pm
TO MEASURE THE INTENSITY & TEMP. OF THE GALAXY REGIONS WHERE NEW STARS MAY BE FORMING – 22nd Sep 1974 7:36pm
TO MEASURE THERMAL EMISSIONS OF THE ATMOSPHERE USING A MICHELSON INTERFEROMETER – 23rd Sep 1974 7:46am
OBSERVATION OF THE MILKY WAY AT 2.7m-3.4m WAVELENGTH USING A COOLED PHOTOMETER – 27th Sep 1974 12:12am
TO MEASURE the CHARGE COMPOSITION AND ENERGY SPECTRUM of COSMIC RAY NUCLEI – 29th Sep 1974 7:17pm
THIS MEASURING PACKAGE IS A QUADRUPOLE MASS SPECTROMETER for STUDYING IONS – 1st Oct 1974 1:30am
OBSERVATIONS IN THE FAR INFRARED WITH A 40CM. TELESCOPE SYSTEM. & A MICHELSON INTERFEROMETER TO MEASURE JUPTER. ORION NEBULA & ETC – 2nd Oct 1974 6:46pm
TO MEASURE THE CHARGE COMPOSITION of COSMIC RAY NUCLEI – 6th Oct 1974 7:10pm
SPECTROKOPIC RECORDING of the INFRARED SOLAR RADIATON from 2,5to 3.0 mc. & 5.5 to 9.0 MICRONS – 9th Oct 1974 5:14am
A BALLOON BORNE SPECTROMETER to INVESTIGATE the STELLAR CHROMOSPHERE at 135,000 ft – 9th Oct 1974 6:55pm
HIGH RESOLUTION U-V SPECTROGRAPH TO PHOTOGRAPH INTERSTELLAR & STELLAR SOURCES – 11th Oct 1974 6:43pm
A SUN TRACKER ON TOP THE BALLOON POSITIONS SOLAR CELLS – 12th Oct 1974 7:20am
A 25in. INFRAFRED TELESCOPE FOR PHOTOMETRY of GALACTIC REGIONS AT 127,000 ft – 13th Oct 1974 6:02pm
SPECTROKOPIC RECORDING of the INFRARED SOLAR RADIATION FROM 2,5 TO 3.0 MICRONS – 20th Oct 1974 7:00am
A SUNTRACKER PACKAGE on the BALLOON POSITIONS SOLAR CELLS DURING A 4 HOUR FLIGHT at 120,000 FT – 24th Oct 1974 7:55am
OBSERVING the FAR-INFRARED WITH A STABALIZED TELESCOPE – 5th Nov 1974 5:00pm
A MEDIUM ENERGY GAMMA RAY TEST USING A GR TELESCOPE – 6th Nov 1974 8:04am
TO MEASURE the CONCENTRATION of ATOMIC OXYGEN at 135,000 ft. NASA. – 12th Nov 1974 6:58am
A GUIDE SURFACE PARACHUTE STABILITY test AND TO MEASURE STRATASPHERIC SPECIES – 25th Nov 1974 7:35am
GAMMA-RAY TELESCOPE FOR HEAD-A SATELLITE – 17th Dec 1974 5:01pm
1975 | Back to Year choices
THE MEASURING OF ATOMIC OXYGEN AS THE PARACHUTE DECEND THRU THE ATMOSPHERE – 7th Feb 1975 7:03am
LOW BACKGROUND FAR-INFRARED TELESCOPE TO STUDY EMISSIONS FROM GALACTIC & EXTRA GALACTIC SOURCES – 9th Feb 1975 5:38pm
GAS SCINTILLATION & COSMIC RAY DETECTION TO MEASURE ELEMENTS IN THE (CHARGE RANGE?) – 12th Feb 1975 7:14am
A MAGNETOMETER STABILIZED GONDOLA CARRIES AN X-RAY SPECTROMETER. USED IN 25-250 KEV RANGE – 20th Feb 1975 4:16am
NASA’S BALLOON-BORNE ULTRAVIOLET STELLAR SPECTROMETER TO DEVELOP INSTRUMENTS FOR THE SPACE SHUTTLE PROGRAM – 14th Mar 1975 5:55pm
UNMANNED TELESCOPE TO MEASURE INFRA-RED RADIATION WITHIN OUR GALAXY – 25th Mar 1975 7:37pm
A TELESCOPE TO MEASURE INFRARED RADIATION FROM OBJECTS IN OUR GALAXY – 3rd Apr 1975 6:57pm
ENERGY SPECTRUM OF HIGH ENERGY COSMIC RADITION – 1st/2nd May 1975 9:03pm
MAX-PLANCK GAMMA RAY BURST DETECTOR USING A 15.6 MCF. BALLOON – 9th May 1975 8:45pm
USING A TELESCOPE TO MEASURE NEUTRONS FROM 5 TO 100 MEGS. & COSMIC GAMMA RAYS – 13th May 1975 6:51am
SPECTRO-STRATOSCOPE AS A MIRROR TELESCOPE WITH SPECTROGRAPH FOR SOLAR OBSERVATIONS AT 92,000 FT. – 17th May 1975 5:55am
A 80IN. TELESCOPE TO OBTAIN HIGH RESOLUTION MAPS OF FAR-INFRARED CELESTIAL SOURCES THE GALACTIC CENTER REGION – 17th May 1975 8:00pm
X-RAY TELESCOPE TO OBSERVE X-RAY SOURCES WIATHIN THE GALAXY INCLUDING HERCULES X1 and CYGNUS X1 – 18th May 1975 7:57pm
A MULTI-DETECTOR TO STUDY WEAK GAMMA RAY BURSTS & X-RAY SOURCES – 22nd May 1975 6:43am
X-RAY OBSERVATION OF GALACTIC & EXTRA-GALACTIC SOURCES FROM A LARGE AREA. LOW BACKGROUND TELESCOPE. 52.6 MILLION CUBIC FT. BALLOON – 1st Jun 1975 2:52am
X-RAY OBSERVATIONS. LAUNCH JUNE 1 2:52 A.M. IMPACT 8:31 P.M. FLOAT ALTITUDE 150,000 FT. DURATION 13.3 HRS, LARGEST BALLOON EVER FLOWN. 52.6 M.C.FT – 4th Jun 1975 8:31pm This one is signed on the back and indicates that the cover was flown (on the same mission shown on the covers above). This particular cover was canceled in Lake Havasu City AZ, not Palestine TX.
A SUNTRACKER POSITIONS SOLAR CELLS TOWARD THE SUN. LATER USE IN SPACE SUNLIGHT INTENSITY REFERENCE STANDARD – 6th Jun 1975 6:19am
FAR-INFRARED EXPERIMENT FOR GALACTIC & EXTRA GALACTIC SOURCES – 11th Jun 1975 7:50pm
CRYOGENIC AIR SAMPLE EXPERIMENT DESIGNED TO COLLECT AIR IN THE STRATOSPHERE FOR TRACE GAS ANALYSIS – 13th Jun 1975 8:12am
OBSERVATIONS OF TIME VARIABILITY IN COSMIC X-RAY SOURCES – 23rd Jun 1975 7:42pm
A SUNTRACKER POSITIONS SOLAR CELLS TOWARD THE SUN LATER USE IS SPACE SUNLIGHT INTENSITY REFERENCE STANDARD – 27th Jun 1975 6:10am
FAR-INFRARED EXPERIMENT FOR GALACTIC SOURCES – 27th Jun 1975 7:18pm
TEST FLIGHT OF CARRIER BALLOON ELECTRONICS PACKAGE – 1st Jul 1975 12:28am
SKY SURVEY FOR INFRARAY SOURCES IN THE SPECTRAL REGION – 1st Jul 1975 8:21pm
SKY SURVEY FOR INFRARAY SOURCES IN THE SPECTRAL REGION – 9th Jul 1975 8:15pm
MEASUREMENT OF OZONE CONCENTRATION AT 20-45 KM – 18th Jul 1975 4:32pm
ULTRA-HIGH SENSITIVITY FAR INFRARED TELESCOPE FOR MAPPING GALACTIC SOURCES – 6th Sep 1975 6:21pm
CONTINUATION OF OBSERVATIONS OF ULTRA-VIOLET OBJECTS – 7/8th Sep 1975 7:25pm
A SPECTRORADIOMETER & SOLAR CELLS ARE POINTED TOWARD THE SUN. DATA IS RECORDED FOR ANALYSIS BY COMPUTER – 9th Sep 1975 7:33am
CONTINUATION OF OBSERVATIONS OF ULTRA-VIOLET OBJECTS – 16th Sep 1975 7:21pm
TO MEASURE THE NEUTRAL MOLECULES & POSITIVE IONS USING A SPECTROMETER PACKAGE – 21st Sep 1975 7:40am
THE 40cm UCL TELESCOPE SYSTEM WILL BE USED FOR INFRARED MEASUREMENTS – 22nd Sep 1975 7:52pm
THE DETECTION OF COSMIC POSITRONS & ANTIPROTONS, USING SUPERCONDUCTING MAGNETS & RADIATION DETECTORS – 25th Sep 1975 7:07pm
FLOWN COVER (SEE ABOVE) WITH ACCOMPANYING LETTER – 25th/26th/27th Sep 1975
AN INFRARED INTERFEROMETER DETECTING AND MEASURING TRACE SPECIES IN THE STRATOSPHERE – 26th Sep 1975 2:50am
AN EXPERIMENT TO LOOK FOR HEAVY COSMIC RAYS – 28th Sep 1975 7:25am
A COSMIC RAY TELESCOPE – 30th Sep 1975 9:06pm
TO MEASURE THE ENERGY SPECTRUM OF GAMMA RAY BURSTS – 5th Oct 1975 7:06pm
A TELESCOPE WILL BE USED TO OBTAIN INFORMATION ON ENEGRY SPECTRA OF COSMIC RAYS – 7th Oct 1975 7:56pm
NEW HARD X-RAY ASTRONOMY OBSERVATORY. FOR STUDY OF EXTRAGALACTIC SOURCES – 9th Oct 1975 6:57pm
BALLOON INFRARED ASTRONOMICAL PLATFORM – 10th Oct 1975 6:23pm
TO OBSERVE HIGH-RESOLUTION ULTRA-VIOLET OBJECTS FOR STELLAR & INTERSTELLAR INFORMATION – 18th Oct 1975 7:34pm
TO MEASURE ATOMIC OXYGEN & THE OZONE – 19th Oct 1975 1:43pm
TO MEASURE SPECTRUM & RESOLUTION OF GAMMA RAY BURSTS OVER THE ENERGY INTERVAL 25 kev – 27th Oct 1975 6:41am
FAR-INFRARED TELESCOPET FOR OBSERVATIONS OF H-2 REGIONS – 28th Oct 1975 5:48am
Note the 3rd cover, this is quite a special one with the balloon completely missing ! By far the most spectacular NCAR error cover that I have seen.
40cm. TELESCOPE TO BE USED FOR INFRARED MEASUREMENTS OF THE H-2 REGIONS – 30th Oct 1975
THE GAMMA BURST EXPERIMENT TO BE FLOWN USING SODIUM IODIDE DETECTOR TO MEASURE THE SPECTRUM – 4th Nov 1975 2:15pm
TO MEASURE NEUTRON & X-RAY FLUXES 2 X-RAY ENERGY SPECTRA – 6th Nov 1975 7:51am
1976 | Back to Year choices
TO MEASURE TRACE GASES. TO DETERMINE THE IMPACT OF SST EFFLUENTS, SPACE SHUTTLE EXHAUST AND AEROSOL PROPELLANTS – 12th Jan 1976 12:56pm
APPARATUS TO FREEZE OUT HALO CARBONS AT 95,000 ft – 17th Jan 1976 7:40am
INTERFAROMETER SYSTEM TO MEASURE THE SPECTRUM OF BACKGROUND RADIATION – 31st Mar 1976 6:41pm
TO MEASURE TRACE GASES. TO DETERMINE THE IMPACT OF SST EFFLUENTS, SPACE SHUTTLE EXHAUST AND AEROSOL PROPELLANTS – 2nd May 1976 6:55am
TO OBSERVE EXTRASOLAR X-RAY SOURCES – 2nd May 1976 7:37pm
HARD X-RAY ASTRONOMOY OBSERVATORY. FOR STUDY OF EXTRAGALACTIC SOURCES – 10th May 1976 7:34pm
TO DETECT TRACE MOLECULAR SPECIES PRESENT IN THE STRATOSPHERE. 2-5MIC. RGN – 18th May 1976 3:59pm
TO CONDUCT HIGH RESOLUTION ULTRAVIOLET STELLAR SPECTROCOPY – 19th May 1976 7:16pm
THIRD FLIGHT OF A LARGE SUPERCONDUCTING MAGNET TO DETECT RARE COSMIC RAYS. I.E. POSITRONS & ANTIPROTONS. SPACE SHUTTLE experiment – 20th May 1976 7:30pm
TO OBTAIN HIGH-RESOLUTION MAPS OF THE FAR-INFRARED SOURCES IN THE GALACTIC CENTER REGION – 28th May 1976 8:54pm
LOW BACKGROUND 20-CM FAR-INFRARED TELESCOPE FOR GALACTIC NUCELUS STUDIES – 7th Jul 1976 7:45pm
16 in. TELESCOPE FOR FAR-INFRARED SURVEYING OF THE MILKY WAY – 4th Aug 1976 8:20pm
AN EXPERIMENT TO MEASURE THE LARGE ANGULAR SCALE ISOTROPY OF THE COSMIC BACKGROUND RADIATION – 15th Sep 1976 5:54pm
TO CONDUCT RESOLUTION ULTRAVIOLET STELLAR STRECTROSCOPY. BBUS TELESCOPE – 16th Sep 1976 5:50pm
TO MEASURE PRIMARY COSMIC RAY ELECTRON SPCTRUM – 23rd Sep 1976 6:34pm
A SPECTRORADIOMETER TO MEASURE SUN SPECTRAL DISTRIBUTION – 24th Sep 1976 7:30am
TO MEASURE THE IMPACT OF GASES SUCH AS EFFLUENTS SS. EXHAUST & PROPELLANTS – 2nd Oct 1976 7:59am
OBSERVATION OF GAMMA RAYS OF ENERGIES FROM SOURCES OUTSIDE THE ATMOSPHERE – 9th Oct 1976 8:05pm
COSMIC RAY SAMPLES FROM THE GALAXY – 11th Oct 1976 8:10am
INVESTIGATION OF SOLAR CORONA IN THE NEAR INFRARED – 13th Oct 1976 8:00am
FAR INFRARED TELESCOPE. PHOTOMETRY OF H11 Region – 20th Oct 1976 6:34pm
1977 | Back to Year choices
TO MAP THE HIGH ENERGY X-RAYS FROM THE CRAB NEBULA – 28th Feb 1977 4:36pm
TO MEASURE TRACE GASES SUCH AS PROPELLANT & S.S. EXHAUST – 6th Apr 1977 8:53am
A 40in TELESCOPE TO MAP THE FAR-INFRARED & THE GALACTIC REGION – 25th Apr 1977 7:38pm
A PHOTOIONIZATION MASS SPECTROMETER TO MEASURE THE CONCENTRATION OF NITRIC OXIDE – 26th Apr 1977 8:04am
TO DETECT BURSTING & PERIODIC X-RAY SOURCES IN THE 30 TO 500 kev ENERGY RANGE – 11th May 1977 6:28pm
TO MEASURE THE NEUTRON & GAMMA RAYS FLUXES – 23rd May 1977 6:41pm
INFRARED TELESCOPE FOR MEASUREMENTS OF THE MILKY WAY – 6th Jun 1977 8:30pm
APEX MOUNTED SOLAR TRACKER WITH SPACE TYPE CELLS ON THE TRACKER PLATE – 10th Jun 1977 6:50am
TO OBSERVE EXTRASOLAR X-RAY SOURCES IN THE 15-180 kev ENERGY RANGE – 3rd Sep 1977 10:48am
TO OBSERVE EXTRASOLAR X-RAY SOURCES IN THE ENERGY RANGE OF 15-180 kev – 20th Sep 1977 7:03am
TO MEASURE TRACE GASES WHICH CONTROL THE PHOTOCHEMICAL BALANCE OF OZONE – 20th Sep 1977 8:59am
TO MEASURE SPECTRUM OF HIGH-ENERGY PRIMARY COSMIC RAY ELECTRONS – 29th Sep 1977 8:15am
A SEARCH FOR GAMMA-RAY LINES – 3rd OCT 1977 7:09pm
AN INTERCOMPARISION EXPERIMENT OF THE AES STRATOPROBE 4 PAYLOAD – 25th Oct 1977 11:57am
TO MEASURE POLLUTION OF THE STRATOSPHERE BY INTERFEROMETER – 11th Nov 1977 10:20am
TO MEASURE TRACE GASES WHICH CONTROL THE PHOTOCHEMICAL BALANCE OF OZONE – 2nd Dec 1977 10:02am – Final cover ?
Harvard University / Dr. J. G. Anderson / Atmospheric Sciences – 17th Nov 1978 09:00am – LATE USE / HOME-MADE ? NUMBERED 2 of 19 ON THE BACK
POSTCARDS
The postcards shown below are an example of more unusual usage of the cachet for NCAR/NSBF balloon events:
UNUSUAL COVERS
The covers shown below (which are also shown above) have unusual cachet designs which are either very different from or at least a significant variation / embellishment of the main designs typically used for the NCAR/NSBF balloon events.