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NASA kicks off its annual Antarctic Long Duration Balloon Campaign around Dec. 1, which includes three scientific balloon flights planned for launch from the long-duration balloon (LDB) Camp near McMurdo Station, Antarctica. NASA\u2019s stadium-sized, zero-pressure balloons will support a total of five missions on the long-duration flights with one mission vying to break NASA\u2019s heavy-lift, long-duration balloon flight record, which stands at 55 days, 1 hour, and 34 minutes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe annual Antarctic long-duration balloon campaign is the program\u2019s flagship event for long-duration missions,\u201d said Andrew Hamilton, acting chief of NASA\u2019s Balloon Program Office (BPO). \u201cThe environment and stratospheric wind conditions provide a unique and valuable opportunity to fly missions in a near-space environment for days or weeks at a time. The BPO team is excited to provide support to all our missions this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Headlining this year\u2019s campaign is the Galactic\/Extragalactic ULDB Spectroscopic Terahertz Observatory (GUSTO) mission. This Astrophysics mission is managed by NASA\u2019s Explorers Program Office at Goddard Space Flight Center. The mission is led by principal investigator Christopher Walker from the University of Arizona with support from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. GUSTO will aim for 55-plus days in flight above the southernmost hemisphere\u2019s skies to map a large part of the Milky Way galaxy, including the galactic center, and the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud. The GUSTO telescope is equipped with very sensitive detectors for carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen emission lines. Measuring these emission lines will give the GUSTO team deep insight into the full lifecycle of the interstellar medium, the cosmic material found between stars. GUSTO\u2019s science observations will be performed from Antarctica to allow for enough observation time aloft, access to astronomical objects, and solar power provided by the austral summer in the polar region.<\/p>\n
Additional missions set to fly during the Antarctic LDB campaign include:<\/p>\n
Zero-pressure balloons feature open ducts that allow gas to escape and prevent an increase in pressure from inside the balloon. Gas expansion occurs as it heats during the balloon\u2019s rise above Earth\u2019s surface or by temperature increases from a rising Sun. These balloons, which typically have a shorter flight duration due to the loss of gas from the cycle of day to night, can only fly long-duration missions during the constant daylight of summer in polar regions, where the balloon stays in constant sunlight.<\/p>\n
NASA\u2019s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia manages the agency\u2019s scientific balloon flight program with 10 to 15 flights each year from launch sites worldwide.\u00a0Peraton, which operates NASA\u2019s Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility (CSBF) in Texas, provides mission planning, engineering services, and field operations for NASA\u2019s scientific balloon program. The CSBF team has launched more than 1,700 scientific balloons over some 40 years of operations. NASA\u2019s balloons are fabricated by Aerostar. The NASA Scientific\u00a0Balloon Program is funded by the NASA Headquarters Science Mission Directorate Astrophysics Division.<\/p>\n
For mission tracking, click here. For more information on NASA\u2019s Scientific Balloon Program, visit:\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n