Raiding The Archive

High Science

Seven seasons after the College’s Big Ten football team dissolved, Stagg Field was still being used, albeit for academic pursuits. This Cosmic Radiation Research Group balloon launch took place in October 1946 as cosmic-ray experimentation, which studies the energetic space particles that filter through Earth’s atmosphere, reemerged from a World War II hiatus. The balloons carried detectors to transmit radio signals for each cosmic ray “hit” at different altitudes. Researchers were interested in the nature and origin of the cosmic ray and its interactions with matter.

Cosmic rays still intrigue scientists, who have found applications to foundational particle theory and nuclear weapons detectors.—S.I.A.