Technicians from NASA’s Scientific Balloon Program recently performed weight test procedures of the Super Pressure Balloon Imaging Telescope (SuperBIT) payload in advance of planned super pressure balloon flight operations from Wanaka, New Zealand, in 2023.
SuperBIT will use a wide field of view to image large galaxy clusters from a balloon platform in a near-space environment. By measuring the way these massive objects warp the space around them, also called “weak gravitational lensing,” SuperBIT will be able to map the dark matter present in these clusters.
For more information and future status updates, visit this blog as well as nasa.gov/scientificballoons.