Many of the scientific balloons assembled in the NASA Long Duration Balloon
facility at McMurdo employed the “Work Horse” 1.13 million m
3
(40 million ft
3
)
zero-pressure balloon described in Chapter 2. See Section 3.4 for a description of
ground support vehicles and equipment, Chapter 7 and Chapter 8 for flight details,
and Section 9.1.4 for the role of the NSF in Antarctica.
6.1.6 Esrange, Kiruna, Sweden
Esrange Space Center is a rocket range and research center located about 40 km
(24 mi) east of the town of Kiruna in northern Sweden. It is a base for scientific
research by high altitude balloons, investigation of the aurora borealis, sounding
Fig. 6.9 A ground view of the LDB facility. From left to right the buildings are: (a)
Barely visible to the left of the large buildings is a small building for storage and assembly equipment. (b) The two large buildings are the payload staging buildings. Notice the
monorail cranes at the top. The buildings are on skids so they can be moved, as are many
buildings there. (c) To the right of the staging building, where the people are standing, is
the rigging shop. (d) To the right of that is the telemetry building with the domes on top.
(e) To the right of that and tucked back is the generator building with two generators. (f)
The truss structure behind the generator building houses the cables and plumbing to the
other buildings. They use waste heat from the generator cooling systems to heat the
buildings. (g) Initially, there was another small building next to the generator for toilet
facilities but that had apparently been moved when the picture was taken. (h) The building on the far right is a classic “Jamesway Hut” designed by the U.S. Navy during the
Second World War. It is the galley and kitchen and very likely houses the new toilet
facilities. Photo courtesy of Stratocat.com
6.1 NASA 133
facility at McMurdo employed the “Work Horse” 1.13 million m
3
(40 million ft
3
)
zero-pressure balloon described in Chapter 2. See Section 3.4 for a description of
ground support vehicles and equipment, Chapter 7 and Chapter 8 for flight details,
and Section 9.1.4 for the role of the NSF in Antarctica.
6.1.6 Esrange, Kiruna, Sweden
Esrange Space Center is a rocket range and research center located about 40 km
(24 mi) east of the town of Kiruna in northern Sweden. It is a base for scientific
research by high altitude balloons, investigation of the aurora borealis, sounding
Fig. 6.9 A ground view of the LDB facility. From left to right the buildings are: (a)
Barely visible to the left of the large buildings is a small building for storage and assembly equipment. (b) The two large buildings are the payload staging buildings. Notice the
monorail cranes at the top. The buildings are on skids so they can be moved, as are many
buildings there. (c) To the right of the staging building, where the people are standing, is
the rigging shop. (d) To the right of that is the telemetry building with the domes on top.
(e) To the right of that and tucked back is the generator building with two generators. (f)
The truss structure behind the generator building houses the cables and plumbing to the
other buildings. They use waste heat from the generator cooling systems to heat the
buildings. (g) Initially, there was another small building next to the generator for toilet
facilities but that had apparently been moved when the picture was taken. (h) The building on the far right is a classic “Jamesway Hut” designed by the U.S. Navy during the
Second World War. It is the galley and kitchen and very likely houses the new toilet
facilities. Photo courtesy of Stratocat.com
6.1 NASA 133