Alfred Wegener: Difference between revisions
→First flight
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Alfred and Berson flew for ten hours, got up over 5,500 meters and made a controlled landing in Gleiwitz, East Prussia.
==== Second flight ====
Alfred's second balloon flight took place on 30 August 1905. The plan was to observe a partial eclipse of the Sun and, from the faintly visible stars, provide an opportunity for Alfred to practice astronomical position finding while aloft.
The balloon's pilot was Hans Gerdien, an expert on electrical phenomena in the atmosphere. The two aeronauts cast off at 10.30 am and rose rapidly to an altitude of 1,000 meters, where they encountered a cloud layer that drenched their balloon, causing it to descend precipitously to about 500 meters and forcing them to drop some ballast. They then rose again rapidly to between 1,300 and 1,400 meters.
{{Cquote | ''There we floated, between two cloud layers and we could again see the sun. So that at noon, we were able to measure its altitude and investigate the eclipse as it progressed. The truly remarkable reduction of the sun's brightness was just right for our mission, but it also made a strong emotional impression''||| Alfred Wegener in ''"Astronomische Ortsbestimmungen in Luftballon"''}}
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