Salomon August Andrée

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Salomon August Andrée was a balloonist who made an notoriously ill-fated Arctic expedition in 1897.[1]

Diagram showing guide-rope attachment to suspension circle in Andrée's balloon

Andrée was home-schooled in his early years, then went to the State High School, then enrolled in the Royal Institute of Technology (Kungliga Tekniska högskolan) in 1869.[2]

Andrée visited the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia where he met John Wise and perhaps developed an interest in aeronautics.[2][3] He went on a meteorology expedition to Svalbard in 1882.[2]

In 1885 Andrée became chief engineer-examiner of the patent office of Sweden.[2][4] One source says he was "head of the technical department" there.[5]

He conducted a series of balloon ascents in the 1890s, some of them to experiment with the use of sail and guide-rope for balloon navigation.[2][4]

He announced his plan for a polar expedition in 1895 to the Swedish Anthropological and Geographical Society, and secured funding from A. E. Nordenskiöld and Alfred Nobel.[2] Henri Lachambre and Alexis Machuron, of the Manufacture d'Aérostats de Vaugirard, were hired to supply a baloon—quickly.[6] Andrée's first attempt, in June–August 1896, was aborted due to unfavorable wind.[2]

The second began in July 1897,[2] sending back its first messages by pigeon.[7] It was never heard from again; traces were recovered later.[2] The remains of the expedition were found on White Island in 1930; diaries were found, published, and translated into English and published as The Andrée Diaries.


Publications by or about Salomon August Andrée

References

  1. ↑ Rotch, 1909, Conquest of the Air, p. 73. "Another use for the balloon is in exploration and one of the most conspicuous examples was the daring attempt of Andree ten years ago to reach the North Pole from Spitzbergen, by utilizing the prevailing southwest winds while he kept the balloon at the height of the drag-rope, and this he thought could be done for several weeks."
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 P.J. Capelotti, "Andrée, Salomon August", Encyclopedia of the Arctic, ed. Mark Nuttall; Routledge, 2005; pp. 89–90.
  3. ↑ [1]
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 De Fonvielle, 1885, Les ballons à voile de M. Andrée, p. 125, etc.
  5. ↑ Salomon Andre collection, University of Cambridge.
  6. ↑ Cailliez, 2004, Alexandre Liwentaal, pp. 59–60.
  7. ↑ "Andrée's Polar Balloon Expedition" Aeronautical Journal, Vol. 1, No. 4, October 1897, p. 17. "The only news we have at present of the expedition is that contained in the two pigeon messages, which were despatched within two days of the start, and give very little information beyond the fact that all was well."

Links


Names Salomon August Andrée
Birth date 1854-10-18
Death date 1897
Countries Sweden
Locations Gränna, Sweden, Stockholm
Occupations explorer, engineer, patent examiner
Tech areas Balloon, Guide-rope
Affiliations Kongliga Patentbyrån
Wikidata id Q350420
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