Super Pressure Balloon

WANAKA, New Zealand – NASA postponed the scheduled launch of its super pressure balloon (SPB) from Wanaka, New Zealand, Thursday, May 12 (Wednesday, May 11 in the United States) due to unacceptable stratospheric weather conditions for operations. Along with monitoring ground and lower-level winds (up to 300 meters) on launch day, stratospheric wind conditions at …

WANAKA, New Zealand – NASA postponed the scheduled launch of its super pressure balloon (SPB) from Wanaka, New Zealand, at 9 a.m. Wednesday, May 11, (5 p.m., Tuesday, May 10 in U.S. EDT) due to unacceptable weather conditions for launch operations. The team stepped through their launch actions taking the payload out to the flight …

The window for NASA's super pressure balloon (SPB) launch from Wanaka Airport, New Zealand, opened Monday, May 9 (Tuesday, May 10 in New Zealand) for a mission that will take the 2.5-ton, football-stadium-sized balloon on a long-duration test flight. At this time, NASA is planning a launch attempt for Tuesday, May 10 (Wednesday, May 11 in …

Learn more about Wanaka Airport, New Zealand, one of the busiest, most diverse-use airspaces around. In this video, Ralph Fegan, Wanaka Airport Operations Manager, talks about the different activities at the airport and what NASA's Super Pressure Balloon project has brought to the area.

Multiple areas of low pressure with associated precipitation and unfavorable winds have settled in over New Zealand preventing NASA from attempting a super pressure balloon launch from Wanaka over the next several days. "Conditions do not look favorable for the next four to five days given the winds, forecast rain, and uncertainties with Tropical Cyclone …

UPDATE: (4:30 a.m. New Zealand Time). NASA Balloon Launch Attempt Postponed Due to Weather NASA postponed the third launch attempt of its super pressure balloon (SPB) from Wanaka, New Zealand, at 4:30 a.m. Monday, April 10 (New Zealand time) due to poor weather at ground and surface levels. Wind speeds were just slightly above those …

NASA postponed the scheduled launch of its super pressure balloon (SPB) from Wanaka, New Zealand, at 2 a.m. Saturday, April 8 (New Zealand time) due to unacceptable stratospheric weather conditions for operations. Along with monitoring ground and lower-level winds (up to 300 meters) on launch day, stratospheric wind conditions at 33.5 km (110,000 feet), which is …

NASA is targeting Saturday, April 8 (Friday, April 7 in Eastern Time), to conduct a super pressure balloon (SPB) test flight launching from Wanaka Airport, New Zealand, on a potential 100-day journey. NASA will begin flight preparations in the early morning hours Saturday and will continue to evaluate real-time and forecast weather conditions throughout the …

As the latest super pressure balloon (SPB) prepares to lift off from New Zealand, carrying the Extreme Universe Space Observatory-SPB (EUSO-SPB) payload, one may reflect back on how this balloon, the 6th iteration in the current model of long duration balloons, came to be and what goes into its construction — acres and acres of …

Of all the flight and launch vehicles NASA operates, none is perhaps as persnickety when it comes to weather as a scientific balloon. And of the two main types of balloons NASA flies—zero pressure and super pressure balloons—the super pressure is the most persnickety of all. For launch, winds need to be light and flowing …