-------- Original message --------
From: Dale S <dalu@hbcomm.net>
Date:
To: DIY <DoIt_Yourself@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [DIY] Geophysical Year and Lightening:
Most on this list are probably too young to recall the events of the International Geophysical Year which ran from July 1957 through December 1958, but there were many heady projects that were attempted during and following that time period. One was the attempt to drill through the earths mantel on the ocean floor called the "MoHole" which started in the spring of 1961. It was also during this period that an attempt to determine the power of lightening by flying a kite into a thunder storm at sea. The kite was tethered by a steel cable and operated by a winch from the fantail of a ship. Lightening did hit the kite as intended but in every instance the cable was vaporized and the project was eventually abandoned with inconclusive results. I'm sure the crew members of the ship that was used were happy to see the experiment end. In all my years at sea I had often witnessed St Elmo's Fire dancing about the mast of the ship, but do not recall ever being the victim of a direct lightening strike which would have undoubtedly reeked havoc with my electronic equipment. Small rockets are now used to sometimes tow a thin steel wire into a thunder head to measure the effects of lightening, the rockets discharge causes a pre-made path for the lightening which then follows the wire to ground where the directed energy is measured.
Flatland Dale
| Reply via web post | Reply to sender | Reply to group | Start a New Topic | Messages in this topic (1) |
No comments:
Post a Comment