6.1.7 Wanaka, New Zealand
In 2015 NASA selected the local airport at Wanaka, in the Otago region of the
South Island of New Zealand for a new base for launching long duration superpressure balloons across the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans for one or two
circumnavigations of the globe at 44°S. One of the advantages is that Wanaka
offers a mid-latitude location of important worth to scientific experiments while
also avoiding forbidden flight areas (Russia, China) in the northern hemisphere.
Another advantage is that the balloons traverse over the South Pacific Ocean for
Fig. 6.11 Hercules launch vehicle with BLAST. Photo courtesy of SCC Esrange
Fig. 6.12 Launching BLAST from Esrange. Photo courtesy of the SSC Esrange
136 Launch Sites
In 2015 NASA selected the local airport at Wanaka, in the Otago region of the
South Island of New Zealand for a new base for launching long duration superpressure balloons across the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans for one or two
circumnavigations of the globe at 44°S. One of the advantages is that Wanaka
offers a mid-latitude location of important worth to scientific experiments while
also avoiding forbidden flight areas (Russia, China) in the northern hemisphere.
Another advantage is that the balloons traverse over the South Pacific Ocean for
Fig. 6.11 Hercules launch vehicle with BLAST. Photo courtesy of SCC Esrange
Fig. 6.12 Launching BLAST from Esrange. Photo courtesy of the SSC Esrange
136 Launch Sites