BAARC Special Event

United We Stand

Brainerd Area Amateur Radio Club

Special Event April 24, 2004
Crosby, MN, "Birthplace of the Space Age"

BAARC's 11th Special Event will be held at the club station.

Photo by Mark WØMH	The first crew of the day...9 AM to 11 AM CDT. They are Jim Talbott WØYA, John Luce WØJGY, and Special Event Chairman Bob Englund KGØZK.
Photo by Bob KGØZK	Half of the second crew of the day...11 AM to 1 PM CDT. Mark Persons WØMH and Terry May KIØFW.
Photo by Mark WØMH	The better looking half of the second crew of the day...11 AM to 1 PM CDT. Paula Persons WØHA and Dan Selinger AAØNK.
Photo by Mark WØMH	The third crew of the day...1 PM to 3 PM CDT. Special Event regulars Jim Shubert WØJDS and Jim BarryWØIRE.
Photo by Jim WØIRE	The fourth crew of the day...3 PM to 5 PM CDT. Orcy Lyle WØQT and Special Event Chairman Bob Englund KGØZK.

The title, “Birthplace of the Space Age”, has been claimed by many locations including: Worcester, Mass.-Birthplace of Dr. Robert Goddard, Brevard County Florida-The “space coast”. Peenemunde, Germany where Wernher von Braun started his rocket program in the 1930s Roswell, NM-Where Goddard lived and experimented, and Crosby, MN

Crosby Minnesota’s claim is based on an event that took place on August 19, 1957. On that day, a manned balloon was launched from the bottom of the 425 foot deep Portsmouth open pit iron mine just north of Crosby. This was part on an Air Force project called Project Manhigh. Its purpose was to gather data on the behavior of a balloon in an environment above 99% of the earth’s atmosphere and to investigate cosmic rays and their effects on man. The pressurized capsule was launched under a gigantic polyethylene balloon that expanded to a diameter of 200 feet and contained more that 3,000,000 million cubic feet of helium. The pilot, Major David Simons, flew the balloon to an altitude of 101,516 feet in 2 hours and 18 minutes. This was the first manned craft to break the 100,000 foot barrier. The flight itself lasted for 32 hours and eventually landed in an alfalfa field in South Dakota. Bad weather prevented an earlier landing. We believe that the sealed aluminum capsule is now at the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio. More Details

Story on the last Special Event.

Special Event Certificate information: Send SASE to:

Brainerd Area Amateur Radio Club
P.O. Box 801
Brainerd, MN 56401

Bob Englund KGØZK,
BAARC Special Event Chairman.

After Action Report: The theme was well received and we educated a few people on space history. One of them was an Aerospace Engineer from Brevard County, Florida. The bands were up and down, so we made fewer contacts than usual. We did make a total of 121 contacts which included 31 states, Canada, Brazil, Jamaica, West Africa, Grenada and Cuba. A good time was had by all. Thanks to all the participants and to Steve Weber WØTNT for suggesting the theme.

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