Further laboratory studies and stratospheric flight of a mass spectrometer beam system

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Abstract
A gas expansion system combined with a mass spectrometer has been tested and flown successfully in the stratosphere. Through a sequence of orifices and high speed pumping, gas particles were formed into a molecular beam and analyzed by a sensitive mass spectrometer. During two balloon flights, vertical profiles of all major atmospheric constituents as well as O3, CO2, H2O and others were obtained. Gases such as 38Ar and 16O17O provided in-flight calibration standards. The sensitivity of the system was such that gases with mixing ratios of 10 ppb at an ambient pressure of about 10 mbar were detectable.