NASA’s Super Pressure Balloon: Journey Around The World For 100 Days
NASA successfully launched its super presser balloon (SPB) from Wanaka Airport (New Zealand) at 11:35 AM on 17th of May. The balloon has been redesigned and modified from the previous version to last about 100 days and beat the world record of 54 days, also held by NASA. The balloon, sized a massive 532,000-cubic-meter (almost the size of a football field), successfully reached its operational float altitude of 33.5 Km 2 hours and 8 minutes after its launch. It uses the mid-altitude winds to carry it along, circumnavigating the globe approximately once in three weeks. The main aim behind this test is to validate the SPB technology for long duration flights for future missions to study various phenomena’s such as gamma-ray burst. The balloon is also fitted with a Compton Spectrometer and Imager (COSI) gamma-ray telescope for collecting important data.
The Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility (CSBF) team was finally able to launch the SPB after facing five failed attempts in the past due to bad weather. The CSBF team along with NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia will constantly monitor the movement of the SPB which is also available for people to follow along at CSBF New Zealand Operations. The NASA funded COSI is developed by University of California(Berkeley) and is designed to probe the mysterious origins of galactic positrons, study the creation of new elements in the galaxy, and perform pioneering studies of gamma-ray bursts and black holes.
Another such equipment is developed by the University of North Carolina and is called Carolina Infrasound Instrument. This instrument weighs around 3 Kg and is used to record acoustic wave field activity in the stratosphere using its infrasound microphones. In an earlier test, the instrument was successful in recording low-frequency sounds in the stratosphere which were earlier unknown. The super pressure balloon has been admired by various scientists as it provides an inexpensive access to near-space environment and might be a lot more productive in the future.
Source: Super Pressure Balloon
The Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility (CSBF) team was finally able to launch the SPB after facing five failed attempts in the past due to bad weather. The CSBF team along with NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia will constantly monitor the movement of the SPB which is also available for people to follow along at CSBF New Zealand Operations. The NASA funded COSI is developed by University of California(Berkeley) and is designed to probe the mysterious origins of galactic positrons, study the creation of new elements in the galaxy, and perform pioneering studies of gamma-ray bursts and black holes.
Another such equipment is developed by the University of North Carolina and is called Carolina Infrasound Instrument. This instrument weighs around 3 Kg and is used to record acoustic wave field activity in the stratosphere using its infrasound microphones. In an earlier test, the instrument was successful in recording low-frequency sounds in the stratosphere which were earlier unknown. The super pressure balloon has been admired by various scientists as it provides an inexpensive access to near-space environment and might be a lot more productive in the future.
Source: Super Pressure Balloon
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