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The US Long Duration Balloon Facility at McMurdo Station

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 January 2013

W. Vernon Jones
W. Vernon Jones*
Affiliation:
Astrophysics Division, DH000, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC 20546 email: w.vernon.jones@nasa.gov
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Abstract

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A sea change in scientific ballooning occurred with the inauguration of 8–20-day flights around Antarctica in the early 1990's. The attainment of 28–31-day flights and 35–42-day flights, respectively, in two and three circumnavigations of the continent has greatly increased the expectations of scientific users. There is a scientific need for the capability to provide similar-duration flights for investigations that cannot be done in the Polar Regions. A new super-pressure balloon is currently under development for future flights of 60–100 days at any latitude. This first new balloon in more than half a century would meet this need and allow the focus to change from increasing the durations of flights over and around Antarctica to ultra-long-duration flights from Antarctica.

Keywords

NASA Balloon ProgramAntarctic BallooningLDBULDB
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 8 , Symposium S288: Astrophysics from Antarctica , August 2012 , pp. 169 - 177
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2013

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