For a 1:15 minute video of the launch of 662NT, go to:
https://stratocat.com.ar/fichas/2015/WNK- 20150326.htm
There have been two other LDB flights using SPBs: one in 2016 and 2018, and
development of the SPB continues to this date.
2.4.2 Ultra Long Duration Balloons (ULDB)
In order to achieve the science requirements for even longer flights, the Balloon
Program’s capabilities were expanded in 1996 with the development of an Ultra
Long Duration Balloon (ULDB).
The objectives were to:
• Determine what the ULDB could do for science.
• Identify the kind of science most benefited by the capability to lift a 2,700 kg
(6,000 lb) payload to the edge of space and float for an extended period of
~100 days or more at constant altitudes.
• Prove the technology require to sustain an ULDB capability.
The ULDB is made of advanced materials and also uses the pumpkin-shaped
balloon design to achieve flights of up to 100 days. It is completely sealed and
pressurized to maintain a constant altitude, night/day. The payload consists of a
solar power system, radio receivers and transmitters, computers, batteries, and
other systems needed for science experiments. This type of balloon significantly
increases the amount of data that can be collected during a single mission.
The technological advances included the marriage of a ZPB anchored by a
smaller SPB which would be less susceptible to the diurnal day/night temperature
cycles. This concept and technology was demonstrated in the early 1990’s by a
series of seven flights sponsored by NASA and the NSF known as Extended Life
Balloon-Borne Observatories (ELBBO). Two lasted over 100 days, and another
two over 90 days. In addition to enhancing the technology, these missions provided useful science about the effects of X-rays on the Earth’s ozone layer and
atmosphere.
Increasingly scaled up tests continued during the first decade of the 21st century, with new lessons being learned from each flight. This culminated in 2009
with an average of 18 scientific balloon flights each year. A new milestone was
achieved in 2007 by launching three ULDB flights within a single Antarctic summer. This included the so called ABC missions:
• Advanced Thin Ionization Calorimeter (ATIC).
• Balloon-borne superconducting Spectrometer (BESS).
• Cosmic Ray Energetics and Mass (CREAM) experiment.
What is also amazing is that all three experiments were aloft simultaneously!
24 Stratospheric Balloon Descriptions
https://stratocat.com.ar/fichas/2015/WNK- 20150326.htm
There have been two other LDB flights using SPBs: one in 2016 and 2018, and
development of the SPB continues to this date.
2.4.2 Ultra Long Duration Balloons (ULDB)
In order to achieve the science requirements for even longer flights, the Balloon
Program’s capabilities were expanded in 1996 with the development of an Ultra
Long Duration Balloon (ULDB).
The objectives were to:
• Determine what the ULDB could do for science.
• Identify the kind of science most benefited by the capability to lift a 2,700 kg
(6,000 lb) payload to the edge of space and float for an extended period of
~100 days or more at constant altitudes.
• Prove the technology require to sustain an ULDB capability.
The ULDB is made of advanced materials and also uses the pumpkin-shaped
balloon design to achieve flights of up to 100 days. It is completely sealed and
pressurized to maintain a constant altitude, night/day. The payload consists of a
solar power system, radio receivers and transmitters, computers, batteries, and
other systems needed for science experiments. This type of balloon significantly
increases the amount of data that can be collected during a single mission.
The technological advances included the marriage of a ZPB anchored by a
smaller SPB which would be less susceptible to the diurnal day/night temperature
cycles. This concept and technology was demonstrated in the early 1990’s by a
series of seven flights sponsored by NASA and the NSF known as Extended Life
Balloon-Borne Observatories (ELBBO). Two lasted over 100 days, and another
two over 90 days. In addition to enhancing the technology, these missions provided useful science about the effects of X-rays on the Earth’s ozone layer and
atmosphere.
Increasingly scaled up tests continued during the first decade of the 21st century, with new lessons being learned from each flight. This culminated in 2009
with an average of 18 scientific balloon flights each year. A new milestone was
achieved in 2007 by launching three ULDB flights within a single Antarctic summer. This included the so called ABC missions:
• Advanced Thin Ionization Calorimeter (ATIC).
• Balloon-borne superconducting Spectrometer (BESS).
• Cosmic Ray Energetics and Mass (CREAM) experiment.
What is also amazing is that all three experiments were aloft simultaneously!
24 Stratospheric Balloon Descriptions