The NSBF became a focal point for the recovery of the debris from the Space
Shuttle Columbia disaster. The teams that scoured East Texas for parts and debris
brought much of that material to NSBF for documentation and classification. The
NSBF main integration facility was used for this purpose for a number of months.
In 2006, NASA renamed the NASA National Scientific Balloon Facility to the
NASA Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility (CSBF) in honor of the space shuttle
astronauts.
The first decade of the 21st century saw CSBF continuing to evolve and improve
balloon flight systems. It has used the in-line parachute configuration for payload
recovery since the beginning of the facility. Over the years this has proved to be a
very reliable configuration for payload recovery. However, one of the issues has
been parachute opening shock. As opening shock issues have resulted in payload
damage and destruction, gondola specifications and certification techniques have
been established over the years to minimize the issues. In the late 1980’s a gondola
certification program was established with the basic requirement to substantiate
the ability of a gondola to withstand a 10g opening shock. A couple of NSBF
projects over the years to mitigate the opening shock would prove to be ineffective
(Central Load Core Project). Recently a termination system rip stitch system
designed by Pioneer Parachute Co., has proved to be an effective method of significantly reducing the opening shock.
The ability to cut-away the parachute after the payload impacts on the ground
has been a difficult issue to accomplish reliably without adding a significant
weight to the system and potentially causing payload damage. In the past few
years, CSBF has developed a safe and reliable automatic release system that uses
the existing flight hardware with a small instrumentation package and processing
system. This system has proved reliable in several flights launched from McMurdo,
Antarctica.
After 10 years of successful balloon launch operations at McMurdo, Antarctica
NASA, CSBF, and NSF coordinated to design and construct a set of portable
facilities to support NASA balloon operations at Williams Field on the Ross Ice
Shelf. These facilities consist of two 25 foot tall units to support the assembly,
testing, and integration of balloon payloads. Three other portable units include a
workshop, a telemetry station with two dome-protected antenna dishes, and a dual
generator power unit. Each unit is mounted on skids to enable them to be moved
for storage after balloon operations are complete each season. These units have
provided the assets to reliably support balloon operations on the Ross Ice Shelf,
where the unit must be relocated each season due to the movement of the ice.
A vehicle to perform reliable dynamic payload balloon launches on the packed
surface of the Ross Ice Shelf was designed by Foremost Corp., in Canada. This
vehicle is similar to the tundra tired vehicles used to haul cargo in Antarctica and
has now provided a stable reliable launch system. The addition of this asset at
McMurdo improved safety for CSBF staff during launch operations as well as better maneuverability on the ice shelf.
Appendix 1: A Brief History of the NSBF/CSBF 267
Shuttle Columbia disaster. The teams that scoured East Texas for parts and debris
brought much of that material to NSBF for documentation and classification. The
NSBF main integration facility was used for this purpose for a number of months.
In 2006, NASA renamed the NASA National Scientific Balloon Facility to the
NASA Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility (CSBF) in honor of the space shuttle
astronauts.
The first decade of the 21st century saw CSBF continuing to evolve and improve
balloon flight systems. It has used the in-line parachute configuration for payload
recovery since the beginning of the facility. Over the years this has proved to be a
very reliable configuration for payload recovery. However, one of the issues has
been parachute opening shock. As opening shock issues have resulted in payload
damage and destruction, gondola specifications and certification techniques have
been established over the years to minimize the issues. In the late 1980’s a gondola
certification program was established with the basic requirement to substantiate
the ability of a gondola to withstand a 10g opening shock. A couple of NSBF
projects over the years to mitigate the opening shock would prove to be ineffective
(Central Load Core Project). Recently a termination system rip stitch system
designed by Pioneer Parachute Co., has proved to be an effective method of significantly reducing the opening shock.
The ability to cut-away the parachute after the payload impacts on the ground
has been a difficult issue to accomplish reliably without adding a significant
weight to the system and potentially causing payload damage. In the past few
years, CSBF has developed a safe and reliable automatic release system that uses
the existing flight hardware with a small instrumentation package and processing
system. This system has proved reliable in several flights launched from McMurdo,
Antarctica.
After 10 years of successful balloon launch operations at McMurdo, Antarctica
NASA, CSBF, and NSF coordinated to design and construct a set of portable
facilities to support NASA balloon operations at Williams Field on the Ross Ice
Shelf. These facilities consist of two 25 foot tall units to support the assembly,
testing, and integration of balloon payloads. Three other portable units include a
workshop, a telemetry station with two dome-protected antenna dishes, and a dual
generator power unit. Each unit is mounted on skids to enable them to be moved
for storage after balloon operations are complete each season. These units have
provided the assets to reliably support balloon operations on the Ross Ice Shelf,
where the unit must be relocated each season due to the movement of the ice.
A vehicle to perform reliable dynamic payload balloon launches on the packed
surface of the Ross Ice Shelf was designed by Foremost Corp., in Canada. This
vehicle is similar to the tundra tired vehicles used to haul cargo in Antarctica and
has now provided a stable reliable launch system. The addition of this asset at
McMurdo improved safety for CSBF staff during launch operations as well as better maneuverability on the ice shelf.
Appendix 1: A Brief History of the NSBF/CSBF 267