Educating the Next Generations
One of the primary objectives of this book is to provide reading and reference
material that interests the next generation of balloon users, scientists, engineers
and technologists. Balloons have historically played a major role in education.
Over the years, experiments flown on scientific balloons have helped to develop
future scientists. It is possible for undergraduate and graduate students to design
and conduct a balloon based scientific study within 2 to 5 years required to get a
degree. Professors are developing many of the latest scientific balloon payloads
with team members from the graduate and undergraduate student body.
Hopefully this book will prompt students to pursue studies for careers in balloon related science and technology, giving them a foundation of knowledge germane to the current and future worlds of ballooning, because the future of this
world is highly promising. Many balloon corporations and government agencies
(such as NASA) have programs to teach students, of all ages, about science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and their applications to ballooning. This applies to international organizations as well. There are literally
thousands of students involved in ballooning, launching their experiments and
learning about the roles of balloons in acquiring scientific data. After graduation,
students that are going after advanced degrees often work with established science teams and gain practical field experience. Many go on to obtain their masters and doctoral degrees.
Scientific ballooning is an excellent environment in which to train graduate
students and young postdoctoral scientists. Many leading astrophysicists gained
early experience in the balloon program including Nobel laureates Victor Hess,
John Mather and George Smoot. So too did former astronaut and NASA Chief
Scientist John Grunsfeld. Precursors for the detectors developed for the Cosmic
Background Explorer (COBE) satellite were tested first on balloon flights, and
probably half of the COBE science team were former balloon scientists. This is
probably true for many other satellite experiments as well. Many other balloon
scientists have received national and international acclaim. This book describes
many balloon missions, giving the names and affiliations of the participants as
well as pictures of some of the teams, the payloads, instruments, balloon types and
missions. There are also appendices, references, and internet video links to interesting historical and educational resources.
Someday, the experiences gained using stratospheric balloons will provide us
with the technology to fly in the atmospheres of Venus and Mars. I hope that a
student who reads this book will be inspired to become one of the engineers or
scientists on such a mission.
Image Link
Fig. 1.1 https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/news/CumulonimbusInTwilight%20w- labels.jpeg
Introduction 7
One of the primary objectives of this book is to provide reading and reference
material that interests the next generation of balloon users, scientists, engineers
and technologists. Balloons have historically played a major role in education.
Over the years, experiments flown on scientific balloons have helped to develop
future scientists. It is possible for undergraduate and graduate students to design
and conduct a balloon based scientific study within 2 to 5 years required to get a
degree. Professors are developing many of the latest scientific balloon payloads
with team members from the graduate and undergraduate student body.
Hopefully this book will prompt students to pursue studies for careers in balloon related science and technology, giving them a foundation of knowledge germane to the current and future worlds of ballooning, because the future of this
world is highly promising. Many balloon corporations and government agencies
(such as NASA) have programs to teach students, of all ages, about science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and their applications to ballooning. This applies to international organizations as well. There are literally
thousands of students involved in ballooning, launching their experiments and
learning about the roles of balloons in acquiring scientific data. After graduation,
students that are going after advanced degrees often work with established science teams and gain practical field experience. Many go on to obtain their masters and doctoral degrees.
Scientific ballooning is an excellent environment in which to train graduate
students and young postdoctoral scientists. Many leading astrophysicists gained
early experience in the balloon program including Nobel laureates Victor Hess,
John Mather and George Smoot. So too did former astronaut and NASA Chief
Scientist John Grunsfeld. Precursors for the detectors developed for the Cosmic
Background Explorer (COBE) satellite were tested first on balloon flights, and
probably half of the COBE science team were former balloon scientists. This is
probably true for many other satellite experiments as well. Many other balloon
scientists have received national and international acclaim. This book describes
many balloon missions, giving the names and affiliations of the participants as
well as pictures of some of the teams, the payloads, instruments, balloon types and
missions. There are also appendices, references, and internet video links to interesting historical and educational resources.
Someday, the experiences gained using stratospheric balloons will provide us
with the technology to fly in the atmospheres of Venus and Mars. I hope that a
student who reads this book will be inspired to become one of the engineers or
scientists on such a mission.
Image Link
Fig. 1.1 https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/news/CumulonimbusInTwilight%20w- labels.jpeg
Introduction 7