Cluster balloons have been inflated and are attached to the gondola, the Pleiades, just prior to take off from Soldier's Field in Rochester, MN. Dr. Jean Piccard was a University of Minnesota physicist and aeronautical engineer who believed it was possible to ascend into the stratosphere using many small cluster balloons rather than one large balloon. The experimental flight was sponsored by the Rochester Kiwanis Club and supported by local residents and students.
Assistants are inflating individual balloons with hydrogen at Soldier's Field in Rochester, MN prior to Dr. Jean's Piccard's experimental balloon ascension. Dr. Jean Piccard was a University of Minnesota physicist and aeronautical engineer who believed it was possible to ascend into the stratosphere using many small cluster balloons rather than one large balloon. The experimental flight was sponsored by the Rochester Kiwanis Club and supported by local residents and students.