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The Roswell Report: Fact versus Fiction in the New Mexico Desert was published by Headquarters United States Air Force in 1995. The Black Vault distributes this copy. It reproduces the report by Col. Richard L. Weaver and the synopsis by 1st Lt. James McAndrew, both written after a General Accounting Office inquiry requested by Representative Steven Schiff. The Air Force search found no evidence of an extraterrestrial craft or crew. It concluded that the Roswell debris most likely came from NYU Flight No. 4, a Project MOGUL balloon train.
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Position of recording and radio instruments in the flight train is in some cases dictated by the size and shape of antennae or other special part. In general this type of gear is not placed below the altitude control equipment because of possible damage which might result from ballast being dropped upon them. Typical trains are shown in Figures 16, 17, and 18. ## F. Flight Tools and Equipment A list of tools and equipment and facilities which should be provided for any launching site is given in Appendix II. ## IV. PRE-FLIGHT COMPUTATIONS ## A. Lifting Gas and Rate of Rise When the equipment for a flight is in readiness and the inflation procedure is to be begun, the total weight to be lifted must be determined. A weight sheet (shown in Appendix I) is filled in, with the final weight of each piece of gear with its rigging. In this work the weights of the equipment are measured in grams and kilograms for ease of computation. The gross load reported should be accurate to the nearest 200 grams. The amount of lifting gas to be used must be carefully figured to prevent incorrect inflation which might result either in the balloon failing to rise, or perhaps rising too fast and rupturing at its ceiling. After the total weight to be lifted is found, a percentage of this total is added to provide for lifting the load at some specified rate. With a given excess of buoyancy, a balloon will lift its load at an almost constant predictable speed. (The rate of rise will increase by about 25% at higher altitudes, due to the changes in balloon shape and decrease of air density.) Graph 1 of Appendix II shows the relationship between the free lift and the rate of rise, with free lift expressed as a percentage of the total or gross load (which includes the weight of the balloon itself). For example, if a gross load of 10.0 kilograms is to be lifted at a desired ascent rate of 600 feet per minute, 9.2% of the gross load should be added, giving a gross lift of 10.0 + .920 = 10.920 kilograms. (The rate of rise should not exceed 700 feet per minute if a standard appendix is used.) It should be noted that this graph, derived from equations for spherical balloons, applies also to the tear-drop cells of General Mills, Inc., without regard for the balloon diamter.
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