a 6.5 acre paved launching area, a laboratory and operations building, plus the
Princeton University “Stratoport” which supported the Stratoscope II telescope
and a staging and warehouse building.
After several months of construction at the site, the first flight on December 12,
1962 was a test of the Stratoscope II launch system. By the end of the following
year the Palestine facility had seventeen employees from NCAR, twelve from
Raven, and two from the U.S. Weather Bureau. The first full year of operations
was 1964. A total of 83 flights were flown, 15 of which were test flights. Of the
scientific flights 71% were successful.
In 1983 sponsorship of the NSBF was transferred from the NSF to NASA and
the NSBF became a separate entity under the UCAR.
On February 1, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia and its crew were lost over
the East Texas skies during reentry into Earth’s atmosphere. In the ensuing months,
the NSBF and surrounding community were instrumental in recovering much of
the debris. On February 1, 2006, the National Scientific Balloon Facility became
the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility (CSBF) as a reminder of what that crew
stood for: honor, bravery, and the quest for knowledge for generations to come.
In November 2014, the NASA contract to operate the CSBF went to the Orbital
Sciences Corporation, which is now part of Northrup Grumman. The contract is
administered by the Balloon Program Office of the Wallops Flight Facility.
The CSBF has the following three-fold mission:
• Plan and develop facilities and provide operations service to meet the
approved ballooning requirements of the scientific community.
• Perform the necessary research and development to meet future scientific
ballooning requirements.
• Provide consulting services in the field of scientific ballooning.
See Appendix 1: A Brief History of the NSBF/CSBF for a more detailed history
written by former Site Manager Dwight Bawcom.
For a 20:45 minute video of B-Line to Space: The Scientific Ballooning Story by
the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility, go to:
https://youtu.be/sPQ- tMoAHkY
Support Services
The CSBF provides complete balloon operations services and engineering support
to domestic and foreign scientific communities. The operations services include
inflation of the balloon, launching, tracking, and recovery of the payload, as well
as telecommand and data retrieval. Some of the areas of engineering support are
the design of balloon systems, research in balloon materials, electronic systems
design, gondola design, thermal analysis, power system design, instrumentation
design and integration, and recovery system design.
198 The Balloon World
Princeton University “Stratoport” which supported the Stratoscope II telescope
and a staging and warehouse building.
After several months of construction at the site, the first flight on December 12,
1962 was a test of the Stratoscope II launch system. By the end of the following
year the Palestine facility had seventeen employees from NCAR, twelve from
Raven, and two from the U.S. Weather Bureau. The first full year of operations
was 1964. A total of 83 flights were flown, 15 of which were test flights. Of the
scientific flights 71% were successful.
In 1983 sponsorship of the NSBF was transferred from the NSF to NASA and
the NSBF became a separate entity under the UCAR.
On February 1, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia and its crew were lost over
the East Texas skies during reentry into Earth’s atmosphere. In the ensuing months,
the NSBF and surrounding community were instrumental in recovering much of
the debris. On February 1, 2006, the National Scientific Balloon Facility became
the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility (CSBF) as a reminder of what that crew
stood for: honor, bravery, and the quest for knowledge for generations to come.
In November 2014, the NASA contract to operate the CSBF went to the Orbital
Sciences Corporation, which is now part of Northrup Grumman. The contract is
administered by the Balloon Program Office of the Wallops Flight Facility.
The CSBF has the following three-fold mission:
• Plan and develop facilities and provide operations service to meet the
approved ballooning requirements of the scientific community.
• Perform the necessary research and development to meet future scientific
ballooning requirements.
• Provide consulting services in the field of scientific ballooning.
See Appendix 1: A Brief History of the NSBF/CSBF for a more detailed history
written by former Site Manager Dwight Bawcom.
For a 20:45 minute video of B-Line to Space: The Scientific Ballooning Story by
the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility, go to:
https://youtu.be/sPQ- tMoAHkY
Support Services
The CSBF provides complete balloon operations services and engineering support
to domestic and foreign scientific communities. The operations services include
inflation of the balloon, launching, tracking, and recovery of the payload, as well
as telecommand and data retrieval. Some of the areas of engineering support are
the design of balloon systems, research in balloon materials, electronic systems
design, gondola design, thermal analysis, power system design, instrumentation
design and integration, and recovery system design.
198 The Balloon World