daylight, where their batteries died and contact was lost. Tracking indicated that the
motion of the balloons included a surprising vertical component, revealing vertical
motions of air masses that had not been noted by earlier missions.
A.5.2 Planetary Science
The January 2012 Workshop
A workshop held at NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, OH in January
2012 explored what planetary science could be achieved utilizing such a balloon
platform. Over 40 science concepts were identified by the scientists and engineers
attending. Those ideas were captured and then posted to a public website for all
interested planetary scientists to comment on. The results of the workshop, and
subsequent community review, have demonstrated that this platform appears to
have potential for high-value science at very competitive costs.
Given the positive results, the assessment process was extended to include:
• Examining in more detail the requirements for the gondola platform and the
mission scenarios.
• Identifying technical challenges.
• Developing one or more platform concepts in enough fidelity to enable
accurate estimating of development and mission costs.
The workshop provided a review of the assessment, a summary of the attainable
science, and the challenges to make that science a reality using this platform.
Test Flight
The Balloon Observation Platform for Planetary Science (BOPPS) stratospheric
balloon mission was developed for NASA Planetary Science to demonstrate an
exemplar gondola and payload systems for balloon-borne planetary astronomy
addressing fundamental science objectives. It was launched from Fort Sumner,
NM on September 25, 2014.
BOPPS is a stabilized pointing platform mounting an 80 cm (31.5 in) telescope
on a gondola capable of operating at 33.5-42.7 km (110,000 -140,000 ft), placing
it well above most of the atmosphere’s water and carbon dioxide. Because it is at
such a high altitude, BOPPS can see wavelengths of light that are blocked by the
atmosphere from reaching the ground. BOPPS is designed to measure water and
carbon dioxide from comets at infrared wavelengths in the 2.5 to 5 micron range,
which cannot be seen from the ground due to atmospheric absorption. The main
science objectives of the mission were to measure CO 2 and H 2 O emissions from
the Oort Cloud comets C/2013A1 Siding Spring and C/2012K1 PanSTARRS. The
balloon spent 17 hours at altitudes over 38.7 km (127,000 ft). The gondola and
payloads functioned well, and sufficient science and engineering data were collected to achieve the top-level mission objectives.
Appendix 5: Planetary Balloons 317
motion of the balloons included a surprising vertical component, revealing vertical
motions of air masses that had not been noted by earlier missions.
A.5.2 Planetary Science
The January 2012 Workshop
A workshop held at NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, OH in January
2012 explored what planetary science could be achieved utilizing such a balloon
platform. Over 40 science concepts were identified by the scientists and engineers
attending. Those ideas were captured and then posted to a public website for all
interested planetary scientists to comment on. The results of the workshop, and
subsequent community review, have demonstrated that this platform appears to
have potential for high-value science at very competitive costs.
Given the positive results, the assessment process was extended to include:
• Examining in more detail the requirements for the gondola platform and the
mission scenarios.
• Identifying technical challenges.
• Developing one or more platform concepts in enough fidelity to enable
accurate estimating of development and mission costs.
The workshop provided a review of the assessment, a summary of the attainable
science, and the challenges to make that science a reality using this platform.
Test Flight
The Balloon Observation Platform for Planetary Science (BOPPS) stratospheric
balloon mission was developed for NASA Planetary Science to demonstrate an
exemplar gondola and payload systems for balloon-borne planetary astronomy
addressing fundamental science objectives. It was launched from Fort Sumner,
NM on September 25, 2014.
BOPPS is a stabilized pointing platform mounting an 80 cm (31.5 in) telescope
on a gondola capable of operating at 33.5-42.7 km (110,000 -140,000 ft), placing
it well above most of the atmosphere’s water and carbon dioxide. Because it is at
such a high altitude, BOPPS can see wavelengths of light that are blocked by the
atmosphere from reaching the ground. BOPPS is designed to measure water and
carbon dioxide from comets at infrared wavelengths in the 2.5 to 5 micron range,
which cannot be seen from the ground due to atmospheric absorption. The main
science objectives of the mission were to measure CO 2 and H 2 O emissions from
the Oort Cloud comets C/2013A1 Siding Spring and C/2012K1 PanSTARRS. The
balloon spent 17 hours at altitudes over 38.7 km (127,000 ft). The gondola and
payloads functioned well, and sufficient science and engineering data were collected to achieve the top-level mission objectives.
Appendix 5: Planetary Balloons 317