NASA’s Super Pressure Balloon Signals Inexpensive Space Science, Tech Research?

NASA  has launched its super pressure balloon on a recent test flight around the world. The successful launch was aimed at giving a much less expensive access to a near-space condition for technology and science research.

This NASA test flight will test and prove the technology of the super pressure balloon with an objective of more than 100 days of flight at mid-latitudes.  The super pressure balloon, which was launched at the Wanaka Airport in New Zealand, carries the Compton Spectrometer and Imager gamma-ray telescope as the mission. According to Debbie Fairbrother, Balloon Program Office chief from NASA, the super balloon is in good condition, pressurized and is heading towards a very significant test mission.

NASA's 532,000 cubic meter super balloon has arrived at its 33.5 kilometers of operational float altitude, two hours and 8 minutes following liftoff. The balloon flies a trajectory as it takes its first westward through the southern Australia prior to entering the eastward stratospheric cyclone, Economic Times reported.

The super pressure balloon is expected to circumnavigate the world in the mid-latitudes of the southern hemisphere one in every two or three weeks, contingent upon the wind speeds in the stratosphere. The balloon launch signifies the start of the COSI's second SPB flight developed by the University of California, Berkeley. COSI is a mission created specifically to study the origin of galactic positrons, perform new studies about black holes and gamma-ray outbursts as well as understand the formation of new elements found in the galaxy.

Meanwhile, there is another mission of opportunity called the Carolina Infrasound instrument. This is a small, 3-kg payload with infrasound microphones, which is created to record the acoustic wave field activity in the stratosphere. Based on reports, this was the University of North Carolina's fifth attempt to launch, as the previous ones were cancelled because of weather conditions that are not favorable for launch.

While NASA's super pressure balloon travels around the globe, it could be seen from the ground, especially during sunset and sunrise, to people in the mid-latitudes of the southern hemisphere like South Africa and Argentina, according to NASA.