Albert William Stevens (March 13, 1886 – March 26, 1949) was an
officer of the
United States Army Air Corps,
balloonist, and
aerial photographer
Aerial photography (or airborne imagery) is the taking of photographs from an aircraft or other airborne platforms. When taking motion pictures, it is also known as aerial videography.
Platforms for aerial photography include fixed-wing aircra ...
.
Biography
He was born on March 13, 1886 in
Belfast, Maine. He graduated from the
University of Maine in 1909 with a master's degree in electrical engineering.
While flying over South America in 1930, Stevens took the first photograph of the
Earth in a way that the horizon's
curvature
In mathematics, curvature is any of several strongly related concepts in geometry. Intuitively, the curvature is the amount by which a curve deviates from being a straight line, or a surface deviates from being a plane.
For curves, the canonic ...
is visible. To photograph through haze, Stevens often employed infrared-sensitive film for long-distance aerial photography.
Accompanied by Lieutenant Charles D. McAllister of the
Army Air Corps, Stevens took the first photograph of the Moon's shadow projected onto the Earth during a
solar eclipse
A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of the Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs during an eclipse season, approximately every six month ...
in August, 1932.
On July 29, 1934, Stevens and two other Army Air Corps officers, Major William Kepner and Captain
Orvil Arson Anderson
Orvil Orson "Andy" Anderson (May 2, 1895 - August 24, 1965) was born in Springville, Utah. Anderson was an Army and Air Force officer, and a pioneer Army balloonist. In 1935 he and Albert William Stevens won the Mackay Trophy when they set a recor ...
, ascended in a specially-constructed balloon and gondola named
''Explorer I'' over north-western Nebraska in an attempt to exceed the current altitude record for manned flight. However, nearing the current record height, the balloon envelope ruptured, sending the gondola plunging to earth.
Fortunately, all three crew were able to eventually exit and parachute to earth before the gondola crashed into a farm field.
On November 11, 1935, Stevens, along with Captain Anderson, made a record balloon ascent from the "
Stratobowl
The Stratobowl is a compact natural depression within the limits of Black Hills National Forest in South Dakota, south-west of Rapid City. In 1934–1935 it housed a stratospheric balloon launch site, initially known as Stratocamp, sponsored by ...
" (a natural depression) near
Rapid City, South Dakota. There were 20,000 spectators, while millions of people listened to a live
NBC radio broadcast. Their sealed gondola ''
Explorer II'' floated to , nearly , a world altitude record unequaled until 1946 and a balloon record unequaled until 1956.
/ref>
Stevens was twice awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross – one award for each of his two famous balloon flights.
He died on March 26, 1949, in Redwood City, California.
See also
* Flight altitude record
This listing of flight altitude records are the records set for the highest aeronautical flights conducted in the atmosphere, set since the age of ballooning.
Some, but not all of the records were certified by the non-profit international avia ...
References
External links
The Explorer I crew - Major William Kepner, Captain Albert Stevens, and Captain Orvil Anderson, on July 28, 1934
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevens, Albert William
1886 births
1949 deaths
American balloonists
People from Belfast, Maine
Photographers from California
United States Army officers