Eleanor Vadala (September 8, 1923 – July 19, 2023) was an American chemist, materials engineer and balloonist.

[1] After World War II ended, she returned to university at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania.

[7] In 1957 she helped to record the orbit of the Russia's Sputnik satellite[1] as part of the Franklin Institute's Moon Watch Team.

[1][6] Her acceptance of the presidency at a time when the organization had largely fallen into disarray was important in restarting its activities.

[7] Eleanor Vadala worked for the Naval Air Development department, studying synthetic laminated materials for use in the construction of aircraft.

[1] One of her jobs involved testing the balloons stored in the Naval Air Facility in Lakehurst, New Jersey, to ensure that they were still safe to use.

[12] Vadala was introduced to ballooning through Tony Fairbanks,[2] a fellow member of the Rittenhouse Astronomy Society.

[1] Fairbanks was a charter member of the Balloon Club of America (BCA), incorporated in 1952 in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.

[14] Don Piccard was accompanied by Francis Shield, Eleanor Vadala, and another first-time woman balloonist, Kate C. Ornsen.

We touched down and landed so softly that the deer didn't even move—such a quiet serenity with the snow coming down so gently.

"[2] The flight was reported by The Philadelphia Inquirer and other newspapers[15][13] and was the basis for Argosy's April 1954 cover story.

[2] The club launched from both the Valley Forge Airport and from Wings Field in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania.