75th Anniversary of Flight to Stratosphere - Explorer II - November 11, 1935

Man’s great race for space entered ended on November 11, 1935 when Explorer II launched from the Stratobowl just outside of Rapid City, SD to the altitude of 72,395’ above the Earth. Captains Albert Stevens, Orville Anderson, William Kepner, and Randolph Williams, along with the National Geographic Society and the US Army Air Corps all played a part in this historic event. Data collected enabled the creation of the heated space suit (led to our first steps on the moon), pressurization techniques (Joe Kitt