The Magellan experiment was a balloon-borne project carried out in the 1970's decade aimed to collect large cosmic dust particles -typically ranging from 50 micrometers to a few hundred micrometers in size- at altitudes of about 30 km. These particles were believed to originate from two extraterrestrial sources: partially ablated cosmic dust and fragments of larger bodies disintegrating upon atmospheric entry. Due to the very low particle flux at such altitudes, the experiment required a system capable of maximizing the collection-area and time product while keeping the area to be scanned small to facilitate particle identification.

The project, originally designed to be carried by superpressure balloons on long-duration flights around the globe, was named after the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who led the first expedition to circumnavigate the world in 1521.

The Magellan apparatus consisted of a 7.2-meter-diameter funnel made from aluminized mylar, designed to guide particles toward a collector at its apex. This collector housed three mineral oil-coated sampling pans that could be individually exposed, sealed, and ejected to prevent contamination between samples. The funnel was stowed during ascent and deployed at float altitude using a gravity-assisted mechanical system resembling an inverted umbrella. To minimize contamination, the design included a radio-controlled shaker and redundant, low-temperature-tolerant mechanisms for pan actuation and sealing.

The project was a collaboration between the National Research Council of Canada (NRCC) and the Dudley Observatory in Albany, New York. The NRCC was responsible for designing and constructing the particle collectors, while the Dudley Observatory developed the deployment mechanisms, the collecting funnel, and managed the launch operations. The U.S. portion of the project was funded by a NASA grant, and the successful balloon launches were supported by NASA and the NCAR Scientific Balloon Facility in Palestine, Texas.

In January of 1973, the experiment was included on an engineering flight of a 20 m diameter superpressure balloon launched from Oakey, Australia. Bad weather prevented recovery after the first orbit at which time the balloon was in the vicinity of the launch site. After the next complete orbit, the winds carried the balloon north of Australia where it could not be recovered.

The balloon survived for 212 days and finally fell into the Pacific ocean without recovery of the payload.

The next year, two short-duration balloon flights were conducted using zero-pressure balloons launched from Palestine, Texas. The first flight achieved a 16-hour collection window and a 40-minute control sample, while the second flight had a 34-hour collection period and two 3-hour controls. Preliminary results showed successful recovery of cosmic particles, with chemical analysis confirming the presence of elements such as Mg, Al, Si, S, K, Ca, Ti, and Fe. The findings were consistent with fluxes previously observed on surfaces exposed in space, like those from Skylab.

Althought succesful, due to the lack of funds needed for its continuation after the major NASA contract ended, the project never went beyond these three flights.

Launch base	Date	Flight Duration	Experiment	Payload landing place or cause of the failure
Oakey	1/29/1973	212 d	MAGELLAN (Micrometeorite Collector)	Lost over the Pacific Ocean
Oakey	2/1/1973	15 m	MAGELLAN (Micrometeorite Collector)	--- No Data ---
Palestine (TX)	5/6/1974	F 19 h 55 m	MAGELLAN (Micrometeorite Collector)	--- No Data ---
Palestine (TX)	10/17/1974	F 41 h 45 m	MAGELLAN (Micrometeorite Collector)	--- No Data ---