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NASAjust pulled off a sky - high exploit : One of its massive ace - pressure balloons completed a full lap around the Southern Hemisphere in just over 16 day .
The globe - trotting balloon cover the 169.24 degree east longitude line Saturday ( May 3 ) — a milestone that proved the richly - flying vehicle can cruise steadily at extreme EL both 24-hour interval and dark , making it a reliable platform for long - duration science delegacy . Unlike rocket engine , balloons like these are price - effective for lengthy scientific mission because they give up protracted information collection without the want for launching vehicles or complex actuation system of rules .
NASA inflates its second super-pressure balloon ahead of launch in New Zealand on May 3, 2025.
Launched in mid - April from Wānaka , New Zealand , the balloon — which is about the size of it of a football stadium when fully inflate — climbed to an altitude of rough 21 mil ( 33 kilometer ) within two hours of liftoff , according to aNASA affirmation . Although the balloon spend most of its metre be adrift eminent above the ocean , lucky skywatcherscaught a glimpseof it from a nearby airport shortly after launch .
The mission cease Sunday ( May 4 ) , well ahead of its 100 - sidereal day agenda , after teams detected a little wetting that begin affecting the balloon ’s altitude , grant to another NASAstatement . Although the balloon stay steady during daylight hours , the cold nighttime temperatures caused it to throw away — particularly over colder part and storm system — sometimes all the way down to 11 miles ( 18 km ) .
commission controllers brought the balloon down into a preselected plash geographical zone in the Pacific Ocean a few hundred miles east of New Zealand . Its onboard payload , which weighed approximately 2 tons , acted as an anchor to displume the balloon to the seafloor , minimizing the environmental impact , NASA officials said .
NASA’s super pressure balloon completed a full lap around the Southern Hemisphere on Saturday (May 3), after 16 days of flight.
" While it would have been preferable to recover the hardware , we were able-bodied to ensure all our feasible information both on the scientific discipline and support side were telemetered down , " Gabriel Garde , chief of NASA ’s Balloon Program Office at the delegacy ’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia , said in the statement .
Despite the early closing , NASA officials said the commission assemble its primary objective : to essay and characterise super - pressure balloon engineering for next scientific use .
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Along for the drive was a science instrument called the High - altitude Interferometer WIND experiment ( HIWIND ) , which collected data point on atmospheric winds . That information helps scientist more accurately foreshadow changes in the ionosphere , the bill region of our planet ’s atmosphere that feign GPS and radio communication , according to the NASA statement .
On May 3 , the distance agencylauncheda standardised scientific balloon designed to remain aloft longer and further modify the scheme for future scientific discipline mission .
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