most of the trip, only crossing over Patagonia in South America which has a low
population. The first SPB launch was on March 26, 2015. After 32 days it landed
in Australia. The second launch was on May 16 of the following year and carried
the COSI experiment. See Section 7.5.2 for more details.
In 2016, NASA signed a decade-long arrangement with the Queenstown Airport
Corporation (QAC), which manages both the Queenstown and Wanaka airports,
and started construction of a permanent balloon launch pad on 65 hectares (160
acres) of land close to the runway. It is a 600 m (1,968 ft) diameter circle with a
pie-shaped wedge on one side and spokes on the other.
For a 1:36 minute video of the Wanaka Airport, go to:
https://youtu.be/EpAct7vXSUY
Some 2,000 loads of gravel were trucked in and compacted for the new pad.
The four spokes which project from the center toward the west are each about
300 m (1,000 ft) long and aligned with magnetic compass directions at 240°, 260°,
290° and 320°. The spokes will serve to layout the flight train, almost 244 m (800
ft) long, comprising the balloon film, the extended recovery parachute and the
cable ladder that connects it to the payload.
For launch, a specially outfitted heavy-duty crane is staged near the center of
the circle with the balloon gondola suspended by the crane. After a balloon has
been inflated and released, the pie-shaped area allows the crane operator room to
make final adjustments to ensure that the balloon flight train is almost perpendicular to the ground prior to release and launch.
Until 2016, the airport was closed for several hours as a balloon launch attempt
progressed and stayed closed until all launch equipment had cleared the runway.
The introduction of the new pad permits normal use of the airport runway while
launch preparations are underway. The airport closes only when inflation of the
balloon starts, through to when the balloon has left the area.
Fig. 6.13 Wanaka, NZ balloon launch pad. Photo courtesy of Stratocat.com
6.1 NASA 137
population. The first SPB launch was on March 26, 2015. After 32 days it landed
in Australia. The second launch was on May 16 of the following year and carried
the COSI experiment. See Section 7.5.2 for more details.
In 2016, NASA signed a decade-long arrangement with the Queenstown Airport
Corporation (QAC), which manages both the Queenstown and Wanaka airports,
and started construction of a permanent balloon launch pad on 65 hectares (160
acres) of land close to the runway. It is a 600 m (1,968 ft) diameter circle with a
pie-shaped wedge on one side and spokes on the other.
For a 1:36 minute video of the Wanaka Airport, go to:
https://youtu.be/EpAct7vXSUY
Some 2,000 loads of gravel were trucked in and compacted for the new pad.
The four spokes which project from the center toward the west are each about
300 m (1,000 ft) long and aligned with magnetic compass directions at 240°, 260°,
290° and 320°. The spokes will serve to layout the flight train, almost 244 m (800
ft) long, comprising the balloon film, the extended recovery parachute and the
cable ladder that connects it to the payload.
For launch, a specially outfitted heavy-duty crane is staged near the center of
the circle with the balloon gondola suspended by the crane. After a balloon has
been inflated and released, the pie-shaped area allows the crane operator room to
make final adjustments to ensure that the balloon flight train is almost perpendicular to the ground prior to release and launch.
Until 2016, the airport was closed for several hours as a balloon launch attempt
progressed and stayed closed until all launch equipment had cleared the runway.
The introduction of the new pad permits normal use of the airport runway while
launch preparations are underway. The airport closes only when inflation of the
balloon starts, through to when the balloon has left the area.
Fig. 6.13 Wanaka, NZ balloon launch pad. Photo courtesy of Stratocat.com
6.1 NASA 137