Lally, Vincent E., 1993-07-13

Oral history interview with Vincent E. Lally, 1993. Interviewed by William Kellogg. 2 sound cassettes (ca. 2 hrs.) : analog, mono + transcript (29 pgs.). AMS 96-97; two physical versions (one master, one copy). Forms part of American Meteorological Society Oral History Project. Vincent Lally describes his undergraduate education and meteorological training at the University of Chicago as an aviation cadet. He discusses his work as chief of meteorological equipment development at Air Force Cambridge Research Lab, and mentions Project 119-L ("Moby Dick"). He comments on the beginnings of NCAR and his role in creating the National Scientific Balloon Facility (NSBF). He describes the first flights from NSBF, Palestine, Texas, using zero-pressure balloons. He talks about research with super-pressure balloons and the establishment of a flight station at Christchurch, New Zealand, with a description of the GHOST research program. He comments on France's super-pressure balloon program and discusses plans for a major joint US-French Southern Hemisphere experiment, as part of the GARP Global Weather Experiment. He notes the successful demonstration of the Carrier Balloon System in conjunction with the GOES satellite. He comments on the present state and future of scientific ballooning, describing the major improvements in navigation systems developed at NCAR, his role as consultant on manned balloon flights, and concludes with an anecdote about the sensitivity of weather balloons overflying Russia.