April 2023 – Super Pressure Balloon

NASA Schedules Second Super Pressure Balloon Launch

Three technicians dressed in hard hats and yellow reflective gear look on as another technician operates a crane with the Extreme Universe Space Observatory suspended from the boom during a pre-launch compatibility test. — Technicians perform a pre-launch compatibility test on the Extreme Universe Space Observatory-2 payload in advance of a planned launch attempt Monday, May 1. NASA/Bill Rodman

Update April 30, 1 p.m. NZST: After running risk assessments for tomorrow’s attempt, the team has decided to cancel the May 1 New Zealand (April 30 in the United States) launch attempt of the super pressure balloon. The next launch opportunity is Tuesday, May 2 (Monday, May 1 in the United States). Updates will be posted on this blog.

Wānaka, New Zealand—NASA is targeting Monday, May 1 (Sunday, April 30 in the United States) to conduct a second super pressure balloon (SPB) test flight launching from Wānaka Airport to further test and qualify the technology, which can offer cost savings compared to space missions.

The first super pressure balloon launch carrying the Super Pressure Balloon Imaging Telescope (SuperBIT) continues to perform brilliantly and has been at float for nearly two weeks.

This second scheduled flight will carry the Extreme Universe Space Observatory 2 (EUSO-2) science mission. EUSO-2, from the University of Chicago, aims to build on data collected during a 2017 mission. The mission will detect ultra-high energy cosmic-ray particles from beyond our galaxy as they penetrate Earth’s atmosphere. The origins of these particles are not well known, so the data collected from EUSO-2 will help solve this science mystery.

NASA will begin flight preparations in the early morning hours Monday and continue to evaluate weather conditions throughout the morning. If weather is conducive for launch, lift-off is scheduled between 8 and 11:30 a.m. locally (between 4 and 7:30 p.m. U.S. EDT Sunday, April 30).

At this time, forecast weather conditions are favorable for launch, however, the predicted launch flight trajectory is considered marginal.

For subsequent launch attempts, if needed, NASA will announce by 2 p.m. NZST (10 p.m. EDT) if the next day’s forecast weather will support a launch attempt.

For those in the local area, the public won’t be allowed at or to park alongside Wānaka Airport on the morning of the launch for flight safety reasons. However, immediately after lift-off, the balloon will be visible for miles around – the best viewing points will be on the hill on the Hawea side of the Red Bridge by Kane Road or on the Hawea Flat side of the Clutha River.

The launch can be tracked in the following ways:
• A live feed of the launch is available here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-csbf-downrange-operations
• Track the progress of the flight at the following link, which includes a map showing the balloon’s real-time location, at: https://www.csbf.nasa.gov/map/balloon8/flight729NT.htm.

Ongoing mission updates are also available on NASA’s Super Pressure Balloon blog.

NASA conducts SPB launches from New Zealand in collaboration with the Queenstown Airport Corporation, Queenstown Lake District Council, New Zealand Space Agency, and Airways New Zealand.

NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia manages the agency’s scientific balloon flight program with 10 to 15 flights each year from launch sites worldwide. Peraton, which operates NASA’s Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility (CSBF) in Texas, provides mission planning, engineering services, and field operations for NASA’s scientific balloon program. The CSBF team has launched more than 1,700 scientific balloons over some 40 years of operations. NASA’s balloons are fabricated by Aerostar. The NASA Balloon Program is funded by the NASA Headquarters Science Mission Directorate Astrophysics Division.

For more information on NASA’s Scientific Balloon Program, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/scientificballoons

NASA Scientific Balloon Prepares to Make Second South America Crossing

A NASA super pressure balloon carrying the SuperBIT scientific payload is preparing to make its second land crossing over South America. After 12 days in flight, the scientific balloon is on track to reach South America Friday, April 28, at approximately 2 p.m. EDT (Friday, April 28, at 6 p.m. UTC).

A Google Map view of the Pacific Ocean, with Australia on the left and South America on the right. A pin is on New Zealand where the balloon originated from and a red line extends to the right over South America and off the screen, showing the first land crossing. Another red line starts from the left side of the screen, traveling south of the original pin location toward South America, with another red pin just off the coast. — Map of SuperBIT Crossing Pacific Ocean.

The scientific balloon, which lifted off from Wānaka Airport, New Zealand, April 15 (U.S. Eastern Time), made its first land crossing on Thursday, April 20, at 9:30 p.m. EDT (Friday, April 21, at 1:30 a.m. UTC). NASA predicts the balloon will complete a circumnavigation once every week to three weeks.

Before any land overflight occurs, a thorough assessment is made of the balloon’s health and the performance of the command and control electronics onboard. In addition, the forecast trajectory is analyzed from a safety perspective before beginning overflight operations.

The ongoing science balloon flight is monitored real-time from NASA’s Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility in Palestine, Texas, and anyone can track the position of the balloon here

For more information on NASA’s Balloon Program, visit: www.nasa.gov/scientificballoons.

Around the World in 10 Days

A map with Antarctica at the center. A red line forms a circle around the continent showing the flight track of NASA's super pressure balloon. — NASA’s super pressure balloon completed its first mid-latitude circumnavigation at 11:32 p.m. Wednesday, April 25 (U.S. Eastern Time) after just 10 days of flight.

NASA’s football-stadium-sized scientific super pressure balloon crossed the 169.24 east longitude line at about 11:32 p.m. EDT, April 25, officially completing its first mid-latitude circumnavigation after launch April 15 (U.S. Eastern time) from Wānaka Airport, New Zealand.

A global map with a red line showing the starting point of NASA's balloon flight in New Zealand and the balloons current position in the South Pacific Ocean southeast of New Zealand. — NASA’s super pressure balloon has completed its first mid-latitude circumnavigation.

NASA achieved the milestone just 10 days, 3 hours, and 50 minutes after launch. The balloon is maintaining a float altitude around 107,000 feet as it continues its globetrotting journey.

“The balloon is performing exactly the way it was engineered to do, maintaining its shape and flying at a stable altitude despite the heating and cooling of the day-night cycle,” said Debbie Fairbrother, NASA’s Scientific Balloon Program chief. “As we continue to test, validate, and qualify this technology for future flights we’re also performing some cutting-edge science.”

The balloon is flying the Super Pressure Balloon Imaging Telescope (SuperBIT) payload, which has already returned brilliant research images from this flight.

Weather permitting, the balloon can be seen from the ground, especially at sunrise and sunset, as it continues on its globetrotting journey. People can track the real-time location of NASA’s super pressure balloon at this website: https://www.csbf.nasa.gov/map/balloon10/flight728NT.htm.

Two NASA technicians wearing reflective vests are atop a scissor-lift and reaching over the top of the Extreme Universe Space Observatory-2 payload, which is cubed-shape with a circular lens on one surface. — NASA technicians prepare to perform a compatibility test on the Extreme Universe Space Observatory-2 payload. The team is monitoring weather closely for a launch opportunity. NASA/Bill Rodman

Next up for NASA’s Scientific Balloon Program is another planned super pressure balloon launch from Wānaka to further test the technology while also flying the Extreme Universe Space Observatory 2 (EUSO-2) science mission. EUSO-2, from the University of Chicago, aims to build on data collected during a 2017 mission. EUSO-2 will detect ultra-high energy cosmic-ray particles from beyond our galaxy as they penetrate Earth’s atmosphere. The origins of these particles are not well known, so the data collected from EUSO-2 will help solve this science mystery. Planned launch attempts will be announced on this blog.

For more information on NASA’s Scientific Balloon Program, visit: www.nasa.gov/scientificballoons.

NASA Scientific Balloon Prepares to Cross South America

A NASA super pressure balloon carrying the SuperBIT scientific payload has crossed the Pacific Ocean after just 5 days of flight and is on track to reach South America Thursday, April 20, at approximately 9:30 p.m. EDT (Friday, April 21, at 1:30 a.m. UTC).

The scientific balloon, which lifted off from Wānaka Airport, New Zealand, April 15 (U.S. Eastern Time), will quickly transit Chile and Argentina as it continues its globetrotting journey about the southern hemisphere’s mid-latitudes.

“The balloon is healthy and performing brilliantly maintaining a steady altitude at around 108,000 feet, which has been the primary goal of this mission,” said Debbie Fairbrother, NASA’s Scientific Balloon Program chief. “This is the first of many flight milestones to come—we aim to cross the Pacific several more times as we verify and validate this balloon technology while supporting some real cutting-edge science.”

The SuperBIT science team has already returned stunning images from the balloon-borne telescope, said Fairbrother. The first images were released by the science team recently and can be viewed here.

The ongoing science balloon flight is monitored real-time from NASA’s Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility in Palestine, Texas, and anyone can track the position of the balloon here.

NASA predicts the balloon will complete a circumnavigation once every week to three weeks.

For more information on NASA’s Balloon Program, visit: www.nasa.gov/scientificballoons.

Balloon-Borne SuperBIT Telescope Releases 1st Research Images

The Tarantula nebula appears as a vivid burst of pink, red and gold in the center of the black, star-dusted background of space. The nebula is intensely colored near the center of the image, fading to dusty clouds of dark red and purple toward the edges. The entire nebula has the appearance of a bright cloud of glowing dust. Many stars are visible in the background, including shining through the nebula. — The Tarantula Nebula taken by the Super Pressure Balloon Imaging Telescope (SuperBIT). Credits: NASA/SuperBIT

The Super Pressure Balloon Imaging Telescope (SuperBIT) that launched on a scientific super pressure balloon April 16, 2023, local time from Wānaka, New Zealand, captured its first research images from this flight of the Tarantula Nebula and Antennae Galaxies. These images were captured on a balloon-borne telescope floating at 108,000 feet above Earth’s surface, allowing scientists to view these scientific targets from a balloon platform in a near-space environment.

The advantage of balloon-based versus space telescopes is the reduced cost of not having to launch a large telescope on a rocket. A super pressure balloon can circumnavigate the globe for up to 100 days to gather scientific data. The balloon also floats at an altitude above most of the Earth’s atmosphere, making it suitable for many astronomical observations.

The SuperBIT telescope captures images of galaxies in the visible-to-near ultraviolet light spectrum, which is within the Hubble Space Telescope’s capabilities, but with a wider field of view. The goal of the mission is to map dark matter around galaxy clusters by measuring the way these massive objects warp the space around them, also called “weak gravitational lensing.”

The Antennae Galaxies as seen by SuperBIT. The nebula is a slightly transparent, light blue mass in the middle of the image. The mass is divided into two lobes, shaped like teardrops. The upper lobe has a spiral of light blue and yellow in its center. Extending straight up and down from the two lobes are two thin tails of gas and dust, which look like antenna. The nebula is on the backdrop of black space, dotted with white and blue stars. The largest stars, one in the upper right and one in the lower left, each have four diffraction spikes. — The Antennae Galaxies taken by the Super Pressure Balloon Imaging Telescope (SuperBIT). Credits: NASA/SuperBIT

The Tarantula Nebula is a large star-forming region of ionized hydrogen gas that lies 161,000 light-years from Earth in the Large Magellanic Cloud, and its turbulent clouds of gas and dust appear to swirl between the region’s bright, newly formed stars. The Tarantula Nebula has previously be captured by both the Hubble Space Telescope and James Webb Space Telescope.

The Antennae galaxies, cataloged as NGC 4038 and NGC 4039, are two large galaxies colliding 60 million light-years away toward the southerly constellation Corvus. The galaxies have previously been captured by the Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-ray Observatory, and now-retired Spitzer Space Telescope. A composite image of the galaxies combines data taken by all three telescopes.

SuperBIT’s first research images from this flight were released by Durham University here. The SuperBIT team is a collaboration among NASA; Durham University, United Kingdom; the University of Toronto, Canada; and Princeton University in New Jersey.

First Super Pressure Balloon for 2023 Campaign Lifts Off from New Zealand

A scientific balloon is to the right, and appears as a plastic, upside down teardrop. A tube attached to the top of the balloon leads down to the ground. A crane to the left holds a large payload structure with many solar panels. — A super pressure balloon partially inflated as it’s being prepared to launch from Wānaka, New Zealand, April 16, with the SuperBIT payload.
Credits: NASA/Bill Rodman

NASA’s Scientific Balloon Program successfully launched its football-stadium-sized, heavy-lift super pressure balloon (SPB) from Wānaka Airport, New Zealand, at 11:42 a.m., Sunday, April 16 (7:42 p.m.. April 15 in U.S. Eastern Time), on a mission planned for 100 or more days. Over the next couple hours, the balloon will begin to fully inflate as it floats up to an altitude of 110,000 feet. Read more.

Track the progress of the flight at the following link, which includes a map showing the balloon’s real-time location, at: http://www.csbf.nasa.gov/newzealand/wanaka.htm

A scientific balloon fully inflated floating in the sky. It appears plastic and clear against a clear blue sky. — A super pressure balloon fully inflated after it launched from Wānaka, New Zealand, April 16 local time. The launched carried the SuperBIT payload.
Credits: NASA/Bill Rodman

NASA Schedules First Super Pressure Balloon Launch Attempt

The SuperBIT payload hangs from a yellow crane vehicle. The payload is made up of multiple solar panels, a bar across the top with various instrumentation, and many electronic components make up the main body of the payload. The sky in the background clear and virtually cloudless. — Technicians conduct an end-to-end compatibility test of the SuperBIT payload in preparation for launch. Credit: NASA/Bill Rodman

WĀNAKA, New Zealand — NASA is targeting Sunday, April 16 (Saturday, April 15 in the United States), to conduct a super pressure balloon (SPB) test flight launching from Wānaka Airport, New Zealand, to further test and qualify the technology, which can offer cost savings compared to space missions. This first launch will also carry the Super Pressure Balloon Imaging Telescope (SuperBIT), from Princeton University.

“We are excited to be back in Wānaka for two planned balloon missions set to qualify this game-changing technology that enables long-duration flight in a near-space environment for the science community,” said Debbie Fairbrother, NASA’s Balloon Program Office chief. “A lot of different weather factors need to line up to support a launch attempt, and so far, Mother Nature is cooperating with us nicely for this first opportunity.”

NASA will begin flight preparations in the early morning hours Sunday and will continue to evaluate real-time and forecast weather conditions throughout the morning. If weather is conducive for launch, lift-off is scheduled between 8 and 11:30 a.m. locally in New Zealand (between 4 and 7:30 p.m. U.S. EDT Saturday, April 15).

This is the first scheduled launch attempt for NASA’s 2023 Wānaka Balloon Campaign. The window for the campaign opened April 3, but weather conditions haven’t lined up until now.

For those in the local area, the public won’t be allowed at Wānaka Airport on the morning of the launch attempt or to park alongside the airport. However, immediately after lift-off, the balloon will be visible for miles around – the best viewing points will be on the hill on the Hawea side of the Red Bridge by Kane Road or on the Hawea Flat side of the Clutha River.

In addition, the launch can be tracked in the following ways:

A live feed of the launch is available here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-csbf-downrange-operations

Track the progress of the flight at the following link, which includes a map showing the balloon’s real-time location, at: http://www.csbf.nasa.gov/newzealand/wanaka.htm

For subsequent launch attempts, if needed, NASA will announce by 2 p.m. NZST (10 p.m. EDT) if the next day’s forecast weather will support a launch attempt.

For launch, winds need to be light and flowing in a reliable direction both at the surface and at low levels up to about 1,000 feet (300 meters). Winds flowing in opposite directions on the ground and lower levels could have a shearing effect on the balloon. In addition, NASA monitors for favorable stratospheric wind conditions at 110,000 feet (33.5 km), which is where the balloon will float.

After launch the 18.8-million-cubic-foot (532,000 cubic-meter) SPB will ascend to its float altitude where the stratospheric winds will propel it at speeds up to and exceeding 100 knots on a weeks-long journey around the southern hemisphere.

More information on the campaign is available here.

Window Opens for 2023 New Zealand Launch Campaign

he SuperBIT payload hangs from a yellow crane vehicle. The payload is made up of multiple solar panels, a bar across the top with various instrumentation, and many electronic components make up the main body of the payload. The sky in the background is dark and heavily clouded over. — Technicians work on the SuperBIT payload during a hang compatibility test April 3, 2023, at NASA’s scientific balloon launch site in Wānaka, New Zealand. NASA/Bill Rodman

The launch window is now open for NASA’s 2023 New Zealand Super Pressure Balloon (SPB) launch campaign aimed to further test and qualify NASA’s SPB technology, which can offer cost savings compared to space missions.

Pictured here, technicians work on the SuperBIT payload and test out the different support and communications systems on the gondola during a hang compatibility test April 3, 2023, at the agency’s scientific balloon launch site in Wānaka, New Zealand.

Two SPB launches are scheduled from Wānaka this year, and on each balloon, NASA will fly science payloads as missions of opportunity. The balloons may be visible from the ground during their flights, which are planned for up to 100 days or more. For more information, see this story.

The team is evaluating weather daily for potential launch opportunities. NASA will announce by 2 p.m. NZST (10 p.m. ET) if the next day’s forecast weather will support a launch attempt.

For launch, winds need to be light and flowing in a reliable direction both at the surface and at low levels up to about 1,000 feet (300 meters). Winds flowing in opposite directions on the ground and lower levels could have a shearing effect on the balloon. In addition, NASA monitors for favorable stratospheric wind conditions at 110,000 feet (33.5 km), which is where the balloon will float.

A live feed of the launch is available here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-csbf-downrange-operations

Track the progress of the flight at the following link, which includes a map showing the balloon’s real-time location, at: https://www.csbf.nasa.gov/map/balloon10/flight728NT.htm