Transatlantic balloon flight campaign completed - 6/20/2011
Kiruna, Sweden.- This week was completed the last of the three flights programmed for the Transatlantic balloon campaign that NASA has been performing from the Swedish launch base of ESRANGE, near the Arctic circle. As usual the landing point of these flights was the north of Canada.
We already informed about the completion of the first ocean crossing by the LEE instrument performed between May 27 and May 31 (see below). As a continuation of the campaign the next launch took place on June 10 at 0:19 utc to transport an instrument called AESOP (Anti-Electron Sub Orbital Payload) developed by the Bartol Institute of the University of Delaware, which measures the energy spectrum of cosmic ray electrons. It uses a permanent magnet and a spark chamber hodoscope to determine the charge sign of the electron. The mission, nomenclated 619N performed the Trans-Atlantic trip in 4 days and 16 hours, landing in Ellesmere Island 40 miles SE of the LEE landing site. This was a great advantage as the recovery team had both payloads in a close range.
The third and last flight (mission 620N) was launched while AESOP was nearing the end of it's voyage on June 13 at 23:12 utc (image at right). That mission was devoted to launch for the first time an instrument called HIWIND (High-altitude Interferometer WIND Experiment) which was developed by the High Altitude Observatory of the National Center for Atmospheric Research. It is composed by a Fabry-Perot interferometer whose main objective is to measure the thermospheric winds by monitoring the neutral wind induced Doppler shift in the airglow emission of atomic oxygen at 630 nm. This spectral line originates mostly from the thermosphere.
According to sources in the scientific team, once at float altitude the instrument -after an initial calibration phase during ascent- began collecting unprecedented measurements of the thermospheric winds. The travel of HiWind endured a little more than four days being terminated minutes after midnight (utc time) on June 18. Landing occured also in Somerset Island in a point located north of the site whrere the two previous missions, touched ground.
A great campaign indeed, taking account that in all, NASA succesfully landed with great precision three payloads launched from the other side of the Ocean.
Japan back in balloon business - 6/10/2011
Taiki, Hokkaido.- As we informed in our April update, Japan's space program -including the scientific balloon activities- suffered a halt as an aftermath of the massive earthquake and Tsunami that hit the country on March 11. Althought, the main bases and facilities suffered no serious damage, the main reason for stoping the activities was the shortage of power in the weeks that followed the unfortunate event.
Despite this, very slowly, things seem back to normal. That is the case, at least, with the balloon program of Japanese space agency which in early June has made two launches, from the base located in the Aerospace Research Field in Taiki, Hokkaido.
The first mission (nomenclated as BS11-02) started at 23:01 local time, on June 1st and involved a "tandem" launch consisting in a small superpressure balloon towed by two smaller weather balloons aimed to test a future system for long-distance voyages. The launch was performed at night -unusual for the program- to study the behaviour of the craft at sunrise.
The second mission -pictured at left and nomenclated as B11-02- started at 4:05 local time of June 8. The zero pressure balloon with a volume of 100.000 cubic meters transported onboard a Gamma Ray Telescope that detected such particles traversing our atmosphere and impacting emulsion plates. After a nominal ascent phase the balloon leveled at a height of 34.7 km and after near 5 hours of flight it was separated of the payload which amerized in the Pacific Ocean from where it was taken by a recovery vessel.
Apparently, these will be the only two experiences will take place in this half of the year.
Completed the first transatlantic crossing of 2011 - 6/2/2011
Kiruna, Sweden.- The kick off flight of the Transatlantic balloon launch campaign from Sweden to Canada, that NASA along with SSC is developing at the Swedish launch base of ESRANGE ended with success.
The balloon nomenclated as mission 618N was launched on May 27 at 1:21 utc time (image at right). After a nominal ascent phase, started a westward flight path crossing Swedish and Norwegian airspace, while floating at 42 km. A nice video shot of the traveling craft was obtained from Lofoten (Norway) and published by the author in Youtube a few days ago. The flight developed flawlessly and the prevailing winds made the balloon to pass north of Iceland, to cross Greenland, reaching the northamerican continent near Ellesmere Island. Finally on May 31 at 15:30 utc the payload was separated from the balloon, ending the mission. We have still no news on the conditions of the landing that occured near the western shore of the Somerset Island, in Nunavut territory. Total flight time was 110 hours.
The payload consisted of an instrument called LEE (Low Energy Electrons) developed by the University of Delaware, which is making his second trip from Sweden to Canada. The aim of LEE is to measures the energy spectrum of comic ray electrons with three plastic scintillators, a gas Cherenkov detector and a Calorimeter. The observations obtained with that instrument are one of the most precise measurements of the electron spectrum over an extended period of time, hence the 4 to 5 days trip to Canada is one of the best mission profiles available nowadays to exploit its capabilities.
During the rest of the campaign another two instruments will be launched AESOP (Anti-Electron Sub Orbital Payload) also developed at Delaware, and HIWIND a balloon borne Fabry-Perot interferometer developed by the High Altitude Observatory of the National Center for Atmospheric Research.
More to come. Stay tuned !
