• The Balloon Experiment with a Superconducting Spectrometer (BESS) was
a joint Japanese-American mission that first flew in 1993. It made measurements of low-energy antiprotons in a search for anti-helium at levels of
precision that placed useful constraints on certain dark matter models, especially in combination with experiments such as ATIC and observations by
space-based platforms.
• The Cosmic Ray Energetics and Mass (CREAM) experiment reported a
hardening of the cosmic ray energy spectrum below the “knee” (at 10
15
electron-volts) and this appears to be in tension with standard models of
propagation for galactic cosmic rays. This result was enabled largely by the
seven flights CREAM totaling about 191 days of exposure time; the largest
of any balloon-borne experiment to date. The CREAM project is further
detailed below.
• The Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna (ANITA) was flown initially in
2006-2007 as the first NASA ultra-high energy neutrino payload. In the
process of calibrating it at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC)
the instrument was able to make the first measurements of the Askaryan
effect (similar to Cherenkov radiation). This mission is discussed below.
• The first detection of cosmic antiprotons was achieved using a magnetic
spectrometer flown on a high altitude balloon in 1979. It was verified in the
early 1990’s with mass-resolved identification by the Isotope MatterAntimatter Experiment (IMAX) and the Balloon-borne Experiment with a
Superconducting Spectrometer (BESS).
BOOMERANG
The Balloon Observations of Millimetric Extragalactic Radiation and Geophysics
(BOOMERANG) flights were briefly discussed in Section 7.3. They are included
here as an outstanding example of how balloon instruments can make significant
contributions to the advancement of science. The team received the International
Prize in Astrophysics on September 19, 2006. Andrew Lange from the California
Institute of Technology in Pasadena and Paolo de Bernardis from the Universitá di
Roma La Sapienza earned it for “contributions to cosmology, in particular the
BOOMERANG Antarctic balloon experiment.”
The BOOMERANG mission has provided the first resolved images of the early
universe, revealing its structure at a tiny fraction of its current age, when it was
1,000 times smaller and hotter than now. Detailed analysis has been essential to
understanding some of the mysteries of cosmology, such as the nature of matter
and energy, and whether the geometry of the universe is “flat” or in some sense
“curved”.
182 Accomplishments
a joint Japanese-American mission that first flew in 1993. It made measurements of low-energy antiprotons in a search for anti-helium at levels of
precision that placed useful constraints on certain dark matter models, especially in combination with experiments such as ATIC and observations by
space-based platforms.
• The Cosmic Ray Energetics and Mass (CREAM) experiment reported a
hardening of the cosmic ray energy spectrum below the “knee” (at 10
15
electron-volts) and this appears to be in tension with standard models of
propagation for galactic cosmic rays. This result was enabled largely by the
seven flights CREAM totaling about 191 days of exposure time; the largest
of any balloon-borne experiment to date. The CREAM project is further
detailed below.
• The Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna (ANITA) was flown initially in
2006-2007 as the first NASA ultra-high energy neutrino payload. In the
process of calibrating it at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC)
the instrument was able to make the first measurements of the Askaryan
effect (similar to Cherenkov radiation). This mission is discussed below.
• The first detection of cosmic antiprotons was achieved using a magnetic
spectrometer flown on a high altitude balloon in 1979. It was verified in the
early 1990’s with mass-resolved identification by the Isotope MatterAntimatter Experiment (IMAX) and the Balloon-borne Experiment with a
Superconducting Spectrometer (BESS).
BOOMERANG
The Balloon Observations of Millimetric Extragalactic Radiation and Geophysics
(BOOMERANG) flights were briefly discussed in Section 7.3. They are included
here as an outstanding example of how balloon instruments can make significant
contributions to the advancement of science. The team received the International
Prize in Astrophysics on September 19, 2006. Andrew Lange from the California
Institute of Technology in Pasadena and Paolo de Bernardis from the Universitá di
Roma La Sapienza earned it for “contributions to cosmology, in particular the
BOOMERANG Antarctic balloon experiment.”
The BOOMERANG mission has provided the first resolved images of the early
universe, revealing its structure at a tiny fraction of its current age, when it was
1,000 times smaller and hotter than now. Detailed analysis has been essential to
understanding some of the mysteries of cosmology, such as the nature of matter
and energy, and whether the geometry of the universe is “flat” or in some sense
“curved”.
182 Accomplishments