McDonnell Douglas to Help Balloonists in Global Flight

McDonnell Douglas Corp. is going to provide a lift to an airline pilot, a British tycoon and a Soviet cosmonaut who are trying to become the first people to fly nonstop around the world in a hot-air balloon.

The company’s Space Systems Co. subsidiary in Huntington Beach said Tuesday that it will allow pilot-balloonist Larry Newman, who has crossed the Atlantic and Pacific oceans in a balloon, to test equipment at its labs in preparation for the historic trip this November.

On Sunday, Newman’s crew will use a special vacuum chamber, which can simulate an altitude of 35,000 feet, to see if the life-support systems in an enclosed crew capsule are working properly.

The men will rely on the capsule to breathe at high altitudes.

“It’s just like being in a plane,” explained McDonnell Douglas spokeswoman Sheila Carter. “Obviously, if it’s not working they’ll find out pretty quickly. . . .”

Newman and a colleague will spend about three hours inside the vacuum chamber, and some 50 of the aerospace company’s employees have volunteered to help monitor the capsule’s pressurization, ventilation and environmental control systems.

Those planning to take the November trip are Newman, Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Richard Branson, owner of Virgin Atlantic Airlines.