Examples abound of spacecraft instrumentation derived from predecessors that
made balloon flights. In some cases, balloons can take advantage of a unique or
critical situation. An excellent example is how quickly the scientific community
responded to the February 24, 1987 optical discovery of the supernova SN1987 in
the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy. The balloon-borne Gamma-Ray
Imaging Payload (GRIP) imaged gamma-rays from the ejecta of a supernova for
the first time. Over the next 2 years, a highly successful series of payloads were
flown from Alice Springs, Australia and their analysis of gamma-ray lines from
freshly manufactured radioactive nuclei verified the basic theory of supernovas.
Such a short lead-time from discovery of a new event or phenomenon to making
direct observations in wavelengths only observable above the atmosphere was a
benefit of the balloon program. If studies had waited for the typical several-year
lead-time for a spacecraft mission, then the rapidly fading gamma-ray emission
would have been undetectable.
There are many examples of how this scientific drive, together with a high tech
balloon has paid off with discoveries. This book described missions that led to a different explanation of how cosmic rays are formed. Some have helped to verify the
inflation theory of the early universe. One mission recorded the first resolved images
of the early universe in the cosmic microwave background. Another high altitude
balloon carried a magnetic spectrometer that detected cosmic antiprotons. Balloonborne instruments have been used to search for exotic sources, including dark matter
and antimatter, and to explore a possible limit to particle acceleration in supernovas.
Balloon experiments improved cosmological models and played a key role in the
development of detectors and technologies needed for polarization measurements
made on space missions. Promoting this search for knowledge is a NASA mission.
It plays out in all of the sciences and is promoted by the Balloon Program.
Earth scientists fly instruments on balloons to study the atmosphere, including
all of its components; for example, observations of chlorofluorocarbons and chlorine monoxide radicals in the stratosphere. There are sensors to study lightning,
ozone depletion, and aerosols. In the latest decade, the Asian Tropopause Aerosol
Layer was discovered, then confirmed by satellites and subsequent balloon flights
by India. Other Earth scientists use balloon-borne sensors to study the oceans, sea
ice, water temperatures, and the overall Earth-reflected radiation relative to the
incident sunlight with unprecedented accuracy. The science of solar radiometry
helps to quantify our knowledge of the primary source of climate change. And
radiometric measurements of the Earth can create a long-term data record some
ten times more accurate than current measurements.
While NASA watches the Sun nearly 24/7 using a fleet of solar observatories in
space, there have been balloon-borne payloads designed to observe solar flares
with 100 times better sensitivity and 50 times more dynamic range than the best
solar observations to date. Balloon-borne telescopes have been designed to study
252 Conclusions
made balloon flights. In some cases, balloons can take advantage of a unique or
critical situation. An excellent example is how quickly the scientific community
responded to the February 24, 1987 optical discovery of the supernova SN1987 in
the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy. The balloon-borne Gamma-Ray
Imaging Payload (GRIP) imaged gamma-rays from the ejecta of a supernova for
the first time. Over the next 2 years, a highly successful series of payloads were
flown from Alice Springs, Australia and their analysis of gamma-ray lines from
freshly manufactured radioactive nuclei verified the basic theory of supernovas.
Such a short lead-time from discovery of a new event or phenomenon to making
direct observations in wavelengths only observable above the atmosphere was a
benefit of the balloon program. If studies had waited for the typical several-year
lead-time for a spacecraft mission, then the rapidly fading gamma-ray emission
would have been undetectable.
There are many examples of how this scientific drive, together with a high tech
balloon has paid off with discoveries. This book described missions that led to a different explanation of how cosmic rays are formed. Some have helped to verify the
inflation theory of the early universe. One mission recorded the first resolved images
of the early universe in the cosmic microwave background. Another high altitude
balloon carried a magnetic spectrometer that detected cosmic antiprotons. Balloonborne instruments have been used to search for exotic sources, including dark matter
and antimatter, and to explore a possible limit to particle acceleration in supernovas.
Balloon experiments improved cosmological models and played a key role in the
development of detectors and technologies needed for polarization measurements
made on space missions. Promoting this search for knowledge is a NASA mission.
It plays out in all of the sciences and is promoted by the Balloon Program.
Earth scientists fly instruments on balloons to study the atmosphere, including
all of its components; for example, observations of chlorofluorocarbons and chlorine monoxide radicals in the stratosphere. There are sensors to study lightning,
ozone depletion, and aerosols. In the latest decade, the Asian Tropopause Aerosol
Layer was discovered, then confirmed by satellites and subsequent balloon flights
by India. Other Earth scientists use balloon-borne sensors to study the oceans, sea
ice, water temperatures, and the overall Earth-reflected radiation relative to the
incident sunlight with unprecedented accuracy. The science of solar radiometry
helps to quantify our knowledge of the primary source of climate change. And
radiometric measurements of the Earth can create a long-term data record some
ten times more accurate than current measurements.
While NASA watches the Sun nearly 24/7 using a fleet of solar observatories in
space, there have been balloon-borne payloads designed to observe solar flares
with 100 times better sensitivity and 50 times more dynamic range than the best
solar observations to date. Balloon-borne telescopes have been designed to study
252 Conclusions