You wanna know about them weather balloon making, huh? My old eyes seen a lot, but never made one of them things. Still, I hear things down at the market, folks talkin’. They say it ain’t too hard, just gotta know what you’re doin’.
First, that big ol’ balloon. That’s what makes the whole thing go up, up, up! They say it’s made of some kind of rubber. Not like the rubber on my old boots, though. This stuff is real stretchy, like that chewing gum little Timmy likes. They call it latex, I think. Or somethin’ like that. Gotta be stretchy to hold all that air, or whatever they put in there.
And it ain’t just plain air, mind you. They use special air. One kind is called “hi-dro-gin” or somethin’. Sounds dangerous to me, like that stuff they used to use for the war. Another one, they call “hee-lee-um.” That’s the one they put in them party balloons to make ’em float. Guess that’s what they use for these weather balloons, too, to make ’em go way up high. Way higher than a kite!
So, you gotta get yourself one of them big, stretchy balloons. The weather balloon manufacturing process ain’t simple, they have big machines for that, I reckon. Where you gonna get one of them? Probably gotta order it special. They ain’t sellin’ them down at the five-and-dime, that’s for sure.
- Big stretchy balloon, made of “latex” or something.
- Special air, like “hi-dro-gin” or “hee-lee-um.”
- Somethin’ to hold all the air in, gotta be tight.
Now, you can’t just let that balloon go flyin’ off by itself. It’s gotta carry somethin’, right? That’s the whole point, ain’t it? They got this little box thing, hangs on a string under the balloon. They call it a “radio-son-dee” or some such. Sounds fancy. That box, it’s got all sorts of gizmos inside. Little things that measure the weather, I reckon. How hot it is, how windy, all that stuff.
Then that box, it talks to the ground. Don’t ask me how. It’s like magic. They got these radio waves, or somethin’. Like that old radio I used to listen to, ‘cept way more complicated. The box sends signals down to the folks on the ground, tellin’ them all about the weather up there.
Some folks say you can use a cooler. You know, like you pack your lunch in? They say Styrofoam is good. It is light and won’t break easy when it falls down. This cooler, it is like a box to carry things. You can put your gizmos in there. Protect them from breaking, you know?
Now, how you gonna get that special air into the balloon? Well, that’s another thing. They say you gotta use a special machine, probably. You can fill it with that “hee-lee-um” stuff. Can’t just blow it up like a party balloon, gotta have a tank and a hose, and all that. And you gotta be careful, too. That “hi-dro-gin” stuff, it can blow up real good if you ain’t careful. Best to let the experts handle that, I say. This part of weather balloon manufacturing process is tricky, you see.
I heard some young whippersnappers talkin’ about makin’ their own weather balloon. They think it is easy! They talk about buying this and that. But it ain’t like bakin’ a pie, I tell ya. You need to know what you are doin’.
They say these balloons go way up high. Like, higher than the clouds. Higher than the birds fly. They go up to where the air is thin. Forty kilometers, I heard! That’s higher than a mountain! And when they get up that high, they pop! Just like a soap bubble. Then the little box, the “radio-son-dee,” it comes fallin’ back down to earth. Hopefully, it don’t land on nobody’s head! And that’s the end of the weather balloon manufacturing process, well, at least for that balloon.
- You gotta have that box thing, the “radio-son-dee.”
- It’s gotta have all them little gizmos inside to measure the weather.
- It’s gotta talk to the ground with them radio waves.
- You need a cooler, maybe made of Styrofoam.
So, there you have it. That’s what I know about them weather balloons. It ain’t much, but it’s somethin’. It’s a lot more complicated than it looks, that’s for sure. Best to leave it to the professionals, I say. They know what they’re doin’. Us folks, we just watch ’em go up, up, up, and wonder what it’s like up there.
If you really want to know about the weather balloon manufacturing process, you should go talk to them weather folks. They are the ones who know all about this. They can tell you all the fancy words and how it all works. Me, I just know what I hear. And what I hear is, it’s a lot of work to make one of them things!
Best to just buy one, if you really want one of those weather balloons. It’s easier that way. No need to mess with that “hi-dro-gin” and those machines. Just pay the money and let them other folks do the work.