Stratospheric Envelopes for an Atmospheric Mode of Address

Abstract

This article explores the modes of atmospheric address emerging from experiments within the stratosphere. To do so, it draws on archival material associated with Commander Malcolm D. Ross who, during the 1950s and early 1960s, spent more time than any other person in the stratosphere. Coupling accounts of Ross’s experimental ascents with his interest in creative writing and communication, this article uses three unopened envelopes carried by Ross into the stratosphere as a point of departure for layering together three strands of thinking. The first is a consideration of the stratosphere as a zone of exchange, experiment, and experience. The second is a reflection on the envelope as a spatiotemporal form, a limit, and a lure for thinking. The third is a discussion of the modes of atmospheric sensing made possible by stratospheric flights. These strands are worked together to develop a distinctive speculative mode of atmospheric address. Such modes of address can contribute to wider efforts across the geohumanities to account for the differentiated materiality and movement of the earth’s atmosphere.

本文探讨从平流层的实验中浮现的大气话语。为此，本文运用指挥官马尔康．洛斯在1950年代至1960年代早期的相关档案材料，而洛斯较其他任何人而言，花费更多时间在平流层上。本文结合洛斯的实验性上升之说法及其对创意写作和沟通的兴趣，运用洛斯带进平流层的三封未公开信，作为共同堆叠三大思考的起始点。第一视平流层为交换、实验与经验的地带。第二反思信封作为时空的形式、一项限制、以及一种思考的吸引力。第三则是探讨平流层飞机使之变得可及的大气遥测模式。我们结合这些思考，以发展特殊的大气话语之推测模式。此般话语模式，能够对地理人文学科为了阐述地球大气的差异化物质与运动所作出的广泛努力提供贡献。

Este artículo explora las modalidades del discurso atmosférico que emergen de experimentos dentro de la estratósfera. Para hacerlo, el artículo se apoya en material de archivo asociado con el comandante Malcolm D. Ross quien, durante los años 1950 y principios de los 1960, pasó más tiempo que ninguna otra persona en la estratósfera. Acoplando los informes de los ascensos experimentales de Ross con su interés por la escritura y comunicación creativas, este artículo usa tres envolturas cerradas llevadas por Ross a la estratósfera como punto de partida para estructurar juntas tres facetas de pensamiento. La primera es una consideración de la estratósfera como zona de intercambio, experimento y experiencia. La segunda es una reflexión sobre la envoltura como una forma espaciotemporal, un límite y un señuelo para pensar. La tercera es una discusión de los modos de percepción atmosférica posibilitados por los vuelos estratosféricos. Estas facetas son trabajadas en conjunto para desarrollar un peculiar modo especulativo de discurso atmosférico. Tales modos discursivos pueden hacer su aporte a esfuerzos de mayor amplitud a través de las geohumanidades, para representar la materialidad diferenciada y el movimiento de la atmósfera de la tierra.

Key Words:

• atmosphere
• envelope
• sensing
• stratosphere
• writing

• 大气
• 信封
• 遥测
• 平流层
• 写作

• atmósfera
• envoltura
• percepción
• estratósfera
• escritura

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author would like to thank the editor, Tim Cresswell, and three anonymous referees, for their constructive suggestions about how to improve an earlier version of this article. The author is grateful to the staff at the archives of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, Washington, DC.

FUNDING

The research on which this article is based was made possible by the generous support of a British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship.

Notes

1. Officially, the altitude reached by Ross is still recognized as the highest attained by a balloonist. The World Air Sports Federation only recognizes flights in which pilots make a successful descent in the craft with which they ascend. For instance, in October 2012, Felix Baumgartner reached 127,851 feet in the Red Bull Stratos balloon, but his record is not recognized because he jumped from his capsule (World Air Sports Federation 2017).

2. The balloonist who died during the recovery stage of the flight was Lieutenant Commander Victor Prather.

Additional information

Funding

The research on which this article is based was made possible by the generous support of a British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship.

Notes on contributors

Derek P. McCormack

DEREK P. MCCORMACK works in the School of Geography and Environment at the University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK. E-mail: [email protected]. He has written about nonrepresentational theory and, more recently, atmospheres. His book, Atmospheric Things, is forthcoming with Duke University Press.