For a 2:45 minute time lapse video of this flight, go to:
https://youtu.be/jsKrfpdGslg
In between these two flights, the instrument was accepted for a 3 month flight
on a SPB that was to be launched from Wanaka, NZ in 2018. However, these plans
were revised by the failure of the SPB mission carrying the EUSO-SPB (Extreme
Universe Space Observatory) which sank in the Pacific Ocean in early May 2017.
This led NASA to advance by 2 years the long duration flight which had been set
for 2020, but unfortunately Covid-19 intervened.
The team returned to Palestine in the summer of 2017 ready for their third
flight, but an unexpected accident with another payload changed their plans. This,
plus bad weather at the alternate site at Fort Summer, NM, meant the flight was
reset to the 2018 summer launch campaign from Palestine.
The SuperBIT flight 1599P was finally launched using the dynamic method by
a Raven ZPB of 800,000 m
3
(29 million ft
3
) on June 5, 2018 from Palestine. After
a successful mission the flight was terminated on June 6, with the payload landing
45 minutes later in an unpopulated part of Tom Green County, near San Angelo,
TX. The payload was recovered in good shape. The total flight time was 21 hours
and 13 minutes.
During an 18 hour flight high above Canada in September 2019, the stability of
the $2 million SuperBIT was sufficient for it to image stars at a resolution of 260
milli-arcseconds, just a factor of five less sharp than the Hubble Space Telescope
and at the theoretical limit for its 0.5 m mirror. However, to compete with space
telescopes a balloon-borne telescope must stay aloft for many nights. To achieve
that, the plan is to fly SuperBIT on a new super-pressure balloon that can remain
aloft for many weeks. The research team are hoping for an observing run in 2021
and are working on a larger 1.5 m telescope which they hope will match some of
Hubble’s capabilities for a fraction of the cost.
The collaborators for SuperBIT include the Physics and Astronomy
Departments, the Dunlap Institute, and the Institute for Aerospace Studies, all at
the University of Toronto, the Centre for Advanced Instrumentation at Durham
University in the UK, Princeton University, and NASA-JPL.
IMAGE LINKS
Fig. 7.1 https://stratocat.com.ar/globos/esq/tn_esq_saoz.gif
Fig. 7.2 https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/e- mist_aboveearth.png
Fig. 7.3 https://stratocat.com.ar/globos/esq/esq_pmc- turbo.jpg
Fig. 7.4 https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/full_width/public/thumbnails/image/bitsetest.jpg?itok=RTuigd_Y
Fig. 7.5 http://stratocat.com.ar/globos/fotos/boomerang_hang.jpg
Fig. 7.6 https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12783
Fig. 7.7 https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/itUfTj1dynij6iswBsc52taxcMtpja7AvYB8OENhoclVCtgy8YKm96BXv_FRNDmhbYY_=s113
Fig. 7.8 https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/bobcat_in_flight_camera_cropped.jpg
Fig. 7.9 https://newscenter.nmsu.edu/Photos/get/10237/full/Klein_Pacific_Missile_Range.JPG
7.5 Recent and Future Flights 173
https://youtu.be/jsKrfpdGslg
In between these two flights, the instrument was accepted for a 3 month flight
on a SPB that was to be launched from Wanaka, NZ in 2018. However, these plans
were revised by the failure of the SPB mission carrying the EUSO-SPB (Extreme
Universe Space Observatory) which sank in the Pacific Ocean in early May 2017.
This led NASA to advance by 2 years the long duration flight which had been set
for 2020, but unfortunately Covid-19 intervened.
The team returned to Palestine in the summer of 2017 ready for their third
flight, but an unexpected accident with another payload changed their plans. This,
plus bad weather at the alternate site at Fort Summer, NM, meant the flight was
reset to the 2018 summer launch campaign from Palestine.
The SuperBIT flight 1599P was finally launched using the dynamic method by
a Raven ZPB of 800,000 m
3
(29 million ft
3
) on June 5, 2018 from Palestine. After
a successful mission the flight was terminated on June 6, with the payload landing
45 minutes later in an unpopulated part of Tom Green County, near San Angelo,
TX. The payload was recovered in good shape. The total flight time was 21 hours
and 13 minutes.
During an 18 hour flight high above Canada in September 2019, the stability of
the $2 million SuperBIT was sufficient for it to image stars at a resolution of 260
milli-arcseconds, just a factor of five less sharp than the Hubble Space Telescope
and at the theoretical limit for its 0.5 m mirror. However, to compete with space
telescopes a balloon-borne telescope must stay aloft for many nights. To achieve
that, the plan is to fly SuperBIT on a new super-pressure balloon that can remain
aloft for many weeks. The research team are hoping for an observing run in 2021
and are working on a larger 1.5 m telescope which they hope will match some of
Hubble’s capabilities for a fraction of the cost.
The collaborators for SuperBIT include the Physics and Astronomy
Departments, the Dunlap Institute, and the Institute for Aerospace Studies, all at
the University of Toronto, the Centre for Advanced Instrumentation at Durham
University in the UK, Princeton University, and NASA-JPL.
IMAGE LINKS
Fig. 7.1 https://stratocat.com.ar/globos/esq/tn_esq_saoz.gif
Fig. 7.2 https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/e- mist_aboveearth.png
Fig. 7.3 https://stratocat.com.ar/globos/esq/esq_pmc- turbo.jpg
Fig. 7.4 https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/full_width/public/thumbnails/image/bitsetest.jpg?itok=RTuigd_Y
Fig. 7.5 http://stratocat.com.ar/globos/fotos/boomerang_hang.jpg
Fig. 7.6 https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12783
Fig. 7.7 https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/itUfTj1dynij6iswBsc52taxcMtpja7AvYB8OENhoclVCtgy8YKm96BXv_FRNDmhbYY_=s113
Fig. 7.8 https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/bobcat_in_flight_camera_cropped.jpg
Fig. 7.9 https://newscenter.nmsu.edu/Photos/get/10237/full/Klein_Pacific_Missile_Range.JPG
7.5 Recent and Future Flights 173