Flight at the Edge of the Ozone Layer | One Strange Rock

2m read

·Nov 11, 2024

NARRATOR: 30 years ago, we discovered man-made chemicals had punched a hole in the ozone layer. Is that hole here to stay, waiting around to kill us? Today, we're trying hard to find out. Morgan Sandercock is about to test an experimental plane, perfect for sampling ozone.

MAN: (ON RADIO) Copy that. So I felt pressure rising.

MORGAN SANDERCOCK: (VOICEOVER) We think we can go as high as 90,000 feet.

MAN: (ON RADIO) Jim, you ready to go?

JIM PAYNE: (ON RADIO) We're ready.

MORGAN SANDERCOCK: (VOICEOVER) That's the big boy territory. That's where things can go wrong very, very quickly. If we lose cabin pressure, then, the pilots could very easily pass out. And we don't have any automatic systems to recover from that.

WOMAN: (ON RADIO) Getting ready to roll.

NARRATOR: Now, a glider might sound like a dangerous choice so high up. But gliders don't have engines, which means they can't pollute the team's samples.

MAN: (ON RADIO) Confirm [inaudible] off.

WOMAN: (ON RADIO) [inaudible] is off. Wing wheel is off.

MAN: (ON RADIO) Been running at 11:32.

MAN: (ON RADIO) 11:32. Written down in GPS 5.

MAN: (ON RADIO) Airborne. [music playing]

NARRATOR: The Perlan glider uses air rising over the Southern Andes to reach extraordinary heights.

MAN: (ON RADIO) Airspeed, 70 knots. Looking beautiful.

MAN: (ON RADIO) Yeah?

MAN: (ON RADIO) Really high.

MAN: (ON RADIO) Traffic.

MAN: (ON RADIO) Yeah.

NARRATOR: 52,000 feet up makes this the highest glider flight ever. But you've got to get this high to get a great picture of the ozone layer. The good news is that thanks to a global ban on ozone-harming chemicals, it looks like the hole is healing up. Our shield is regenerating.

Adora Cheung - How to Prioritize Your Time

Knowing Yourself

View All

We Shouldn't Celebrate This

What toys did you play with as a kid? For many who watch this channel, I’m sure the answer could be action figures, maybe a superhero you loved from that cartoon you watched as kids. We don’t think much about the media we consume and the toys we play with…

10 Brutal Truths That Trigger People's Ego

You know, the universe seems kind of small compared to some people’s egos. We all know the type. The challenge is speaking to them in a manner that doesn’t trigger any childish behaviors. So, if you want to avoid that at any cost, you’d better pay attenti…

Killer Whales: Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Nearly Decimated This Pod (Part 2) | National Geographic

Toa Nutella sweet, huh? Boom, channel 16. In the morning, we make contact with Craig Matka. He’s agreed to give us rare access to his research. Most studies on the effects of the spill started after the fact, but Craig’s work predates the spill. So if any…

Rant: This is exactly why and when information is USELESS

What’s up you guys, it’s Graham here. So everything you’re watching is useless, everything you’re reading is useless, everything you’re learning is useless, and it’s useless if you don’t actually do anything with it. There’s a big problem right now that s…

2015 AP Biology free response 8

An individual has lost the ability to activate B cells and mount a humoral immune response. Part A: Propose one direct consequence of the loss of B cell activity on the individual’s humoral immune response to the initial exposure to a bacterial pathogen.…

Sources of income during retirement | Investments and retirement | Financial literacy | Khan Academy

Let’s talk a little bit about sources of income during retirement. So, we’re assuming you’re retired, you’re not working, so you’re not going to get that income. But one of them is perhaps just your straight-up investment income. You save money over time…

Flight at the Edge of the Ozone Layer | One Strange Rock

More Articles