Suggested Searches

Super Pressure Balloon

Viewing Posts from April 2016

View All Posts

    Super Pressure Balloon team to make third launch attempt

    SPB Launch Operations

    Operations Update: NASA postponed the scheduled launch of its super pressure balloon (SPB) from Wanaka, New Zealand, at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, April 27 (April 26 at 3:30 p.m. in Eastern time), due to unacceptable weather conditions for launch operations. The team brought the payload out to the flight line and laid out the balloon's protective ground cloth; …

    Read Full Post

    NASA Postpones Super Pressure Balloon Launch

    This image depicts the ASTHROS mission in flight in over Antarctica. The mission’s launch vehicle, an American football-stadium sized stratospheric balloon, and telescope payload fly in the stratosphere. Clouds and Antarctic land are visible below the mission, while the  vast expanse of outer space stretches above the mission.

    WANAKA, New Zealand – NASA postponed the scheduled launch of its super pressure balloon (SPB) from Wanaka, New Zealand, at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, April 19, (3:30 p.m., Monday, April 19 in EDT) due to unacceptable weather conditions for launch operations. The team brought the payload out to the flight line, laid out the balloon's protective …

    Read Full Post

    NASA targeting April 19 for super pressure balloon launch attempt

    SPB Launch Panorama

    NASA is targeting Tuesday, April 19 (Monday, April 18 in Eastern Time), to conduct a super pressure balloon (SPB) test flight launching from Wanaka Airport, New Zealand, on a potentially 100-day journey. Forecast surface and low-level winds are aligned for an early launch attempt; officials are watching trajectory projections closely. NASA will begin flight preparations …

    Read Full Post

    Balloon Team Continues to Wait on Weather

    COSI payload

    While local weather in Wanaka, New Zealand, is almost always lovely for locals and visitors alike, NASA's Super Pressure Balloon team continues to evaluate multiple weather conditions, all of which need to align before moving into a launch attempt. Wind conditions at the surface level need to be light in order to facilitate work on …

    Read Full Post

    Super balloon flight ready; waiting on weather

    Balloon Flightline

    NASA's super pressure balloon team remains flight ready in Wanaka, New Zealand, waiting for weather conditions to set up that will support a launch attempt. The team began working a launch attempt Saturday, April 9, however the winds did not set up in a direction that would facilitate laying out the 250-meter balloon flight train …

    Read Full Post

    NASA Postpones Super Pressure Balloon Launch

    COSI payload returns from flight line

    WANAKA, New Zealand – NASA postponed the scheduled launch of its super pressure balloon (SPB) from Wanaka, New Zealand, at 6:30 a.m. Saturday, April 9 (New Zealand time) due to unacceptable weather conditions for operations. Launch preparations began at midnight by mounting the payload's solar arrays and attaching the gondola to the bottom of the …

    Read Full Post

    NASA schedules super pressure balloon launch attempt

    Balloon Gondola Hang Test

    NASA is targeting Saturday, April 9 (Friday, April 8 in Eastern Time), to conduct a super pressure balloon (SPB) test flight launching from Wanaka Airport, New Zealand, on a potentially 100-day journey. Forecast surface and low-level winds are currently marginal for supporting a launch attempt. NASA will begin flight preparations in the early morning hours …

    Read Full Post

    Piggyback Payloads Flying on NASA’s Super Balloon

    The Carolina Infrasound instrument

    Weather update: No super pressure balloon launch attempt for Friday, April 8, due to poor weather; officials will meet Friday afternoon to determine if Saturday's weather will support a launch attempt from Wanaka, New Zealand. (All dates are New Zealand). The primary mission of NASA's super pressure balloon (SPB) flight from Wanaka, New Zealand, is …

    Read Full Post

    NASA’s Super Pressure Balloon by the Numbers

    View looking up at a super pressure balloon

    NASA's super pressure balloon team in Wanaka, New Zealand, continues to evaluate weather daily for conditions that could support a launch attempt of the pumpkin-shaped, football-stadium-sized balloon. At this time, the weather running through Thursday, April 7, will not support a launch attempt. Weekend weather is showing some potential, but the final call for any …

    Read Full Post

    Forecasting from the Ground up to the Edge of Space

    Daily weather briefing

    Weather. Most of us are content with tuning into the news, picking up a newspaper, opening up a smartphone app, or perhaps even relying on a trick knee to get a general sense of the day's weather outlook. Cloudy, sunny, rainy, windy, snowy. Pleasant, frigid, heat wave, cold snap. With the daily forecast in hand, …

    Read Full Post