The reader may be impressed by the differences in stratospheric and commercial balloons. Most people have probably never seen a weather balloon, and the
few who have seen a scientific balloon very likely thought what they saw was a
UFO. Some balloons are so large that when inflated they could encompass a modern football stadium. While hauling several tons of payload into the stratosphere,
the thickness of the balloon’s envelope can be thinner than sandwich wrap! How
can that be? In addition, the gondolas with their exotic payloads look very strange
to the untrained eye. They are what Nobel Prize winner John C. Mather calls, “A
satellite on a string”.
Scientific ballooning has made important contributions to the world of science
thanks to the NASA Balloon Program and all the scientists, graduate students,
engineers, technicians and operations personnel that make it all happen. This program has directly contributed to a better understanding of the Earth and the cosmos. Some balloon missions have even supported scientists who, over the course
of their careers, received a variety of internationally recognized awards including
the Nobel Prize.
The overall success of the NASA Balloon Program, and those of other nations,
have also included advancements in technologies over many disciplines. These
advancements have increased the amount and quality of science data available to
the investigators and experimenters. The relatively low cost of developing and flying science instruments at the edge of space (rather than flying them in space) is
what makes ballooning so attractive to NASA and to the science community. This
can also be said for international organizations that have their own balloon programs. In fact, stratospheric balloon flight has become one of the preferred methods of testing and designing payloads for subsequent flights on satellites or on
board the International Space Station. It could be said that this is an example of
“Balloon to Satellite Spinoff”.
While the satellite version of a payload must meet stringent size, weight, power
and other requirements to fit on a launch vehicle, the balloon prototype version
can be the “ugly duckling” payload since it need only keep the weight down to a
couple of tons while allowing protuberances to stick out all over, unconstrained by
the limitations of a rocket’s shroud, nor having to withstanding Mach speeds and
high-g forces. Once the balloon-borne scientific instrument and payload has
proven that it is worthy of becoming a satellite, the science team will surgically
trim the beast down to the proper weight, size and conformation. Some balloon
payloads are truly vast, possibly a couple stories tall weighing up to 4 tons with
booms, rails, antennas, telescopes, solar panels, tubes and wires sticking out all
over. They are almost magnificent in their ugliness relative to a satellite.
It can typically take a decade to produce a satellite, but even the most complex
balloon experiments can be developed in a third of that time. As a result, it isn’t
unheard of for balloon experiments to fly more sophisticated detectors than are
250 Conclusions
few who have seen a scientific balloon very likely thought what they saw was a
UFO. Some balloons are so large that when inflated they could encompass a modern football stadium. While hauling several tons of payload into the stratosphere,
the thickness of the balloon’s envelope can be thinner than sandwich wrap! How
can that be? In addition, the gondolas with their exotic payloads look very strange
to the untrained eye. They are what Nobel Prize winner John C. Mather calls, “A
satellite on a string”.
Scientific ballooning has made important contributions to the world of science
thanks to the NASA Balloon Program and all the scientists, graduate students,
engineers, technicians and operations personnel that make it all happen. This program has directly contributed to a better understanding of the Earth and the cosmos. Some balloon missions have even supported scientists who, over the course
of their careers, received a variety of internationally recognized awards including
the Nobel Prize.
The overall success of the NASA Balloon Program, and those of other nations,
have also included advancements in technologies over many disciplines. These
advancements have increased the amount and quality of science data available to
the investigators and experimenters. The relatively low cost of developing and flying science instruments at the edge of space (rather than flying them in space) is
what makes ballooning so attractive to NASA and to the science community. This
can also be said for international organizations that have their own balloon programs. In fact, stratospheric balloon flight has become one of the preferred methods of testing and designing payloads for subsequent flights on satellites or on
board the International Space Station. It could be said that this is an example of
“Balloon to Satellite Spinoff”.
While the satellite version of a payload must meet stringent size, weight, power
and other requirements to fit on a launch vehicle, the balloon prototype version
can be the “ugly duckling” payload since it need only keep the weight down to a
couple of tons while allowing protuberances to stick out all over, unconstrained by
the limitations of a rocket’s shroud, nor having to withstanding Mach speeds and
high-g forces. Once the balloon-borne scientific instrument and payload has
proven that it is worthy of becoming a satellite, the science team will surgically
trim the beast down to the proper weight, size and conformation. Some balloon
payloads are truly vast, possibly a couple stories tall weighing up to 4 tons with
booms, rails, antennas, telescopes, solar panels, tubes and wires sticking out all
over. They are almost magnificent in their ugliness relative to a satellite.
It can typically take a decade to produce a satellite, but even the most complex
balloon experiments can be developed in a third of that time. As a result, it isn’t
unheard of for balloon experiments to fly more sophisticated detectors than are
250 Conclusions