CRISIS (Cosmic Ray Isotope Instrument System)

The instrument was aimed to measure the elemental and isotopic composition of the cosmic ray nuclei of charges greater than or equal to 10 using the Cerenkov-range method of mass determination. In this flight were obtained measurements of near 5000 nuclei which stoped in the stack of nuclear emulsions of the instrument.

Balloon launched on: 5/20/1977
Launch site: Aberdeen, South Dakota, US  
Balloon launched by: National Scientific Balloon Facility (NSBF)
Balloon manufacturer/size/composition: Zero Pressure Balloon Winzen 937.906 m3 (12.70 Microns)
Flight identification number: 132N
End of flight (L for landing time, W for last contact, otherwise termination time): 5/21/1977
Balloon flight duration (F: time at float only, otherwise total flight time in d:days / h:hours or m:minutes - ): F 56 h 42 m
Landing site: In the state of Washington, US
Payload weight: 1220 kgs

• Launching CRISIS - A scientific balloon launch from the center of the continent Thor Olson's website
• Detection of the Isotopes of Heavy Cosmic Ray Nuclei Proceedings from the 14th International Cosmic Ray Conference, Germany, 1975. Volume 9, p.3166
• National Scientific Balloon Facility Annual Report, FY 1977 National Center for Atmospheric Research, 1978
• Some Isotopic Abundances in the Cosmic Radiation 16th International Cosmic Ray Conference, Vol.1 P.442, 1979
• The Charge Distribution of Heavy Cosmic Ray Nuclei 16th International Cosmic Ray Conference, Vol. 1.
• The elemental and isotopic composition of cosmic rays - Silicon to nickel Astrophysical Journal, Part 1, vol. 246, June 15, 1981, p. 1014-1030
• The neutron-rich isotopes of cosmic-ray neon and magnesium Astrophysical Journal, Part 2 - Letters to the Editor, vol. 240, Aug. 15, 1980, p. L53