64
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. von Ehrenfried, Stratospheric Balloons, Springer Praxis Books,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68130-2_4
4
Mission Drivers and Operations
4.1 MISSION DRIVERS
4.1.1 Pre-Mission Planning
The planning of a mission depends on a lot of factors. For example, is it to be a
single flight or a campaign of many flights? Where is the launch site? Are there
adequate launching facilities? Is it in a foreign country? Are there any overflight
restrictions? Are there international participants? The answers to these questions
drive the implementation of a mission and its flight operations.
Antarctic Example
Probably the most difficult missions to plan are those that will be launched from
one of the polar regions. Antarctica is unique in many ways. While those flights
receive outstanding support from the National Science Foundation and its Polar
Program, it is still very far away and an extreme environment. As a result there are
demanding pre-mission planning constraints.
Even before a mission is ready to fly, there are critical logistics questions that
must be addressed. The CSBF typically ships balloons and helium one year in
advance of a scheduled flight. Thus by May of the preceding year (two years in
advance of the scheduled date) the science instrumentation, payloads, balloon,
communications interface and any special or unique requirement must be clearly
identified and approved by the Balloon Program Office, by the science team and
by the CSBF Operations Department.
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. von Ehrenfried, Stratospheric Balloons, Springer Praxis Books,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68130-2_4
4
Mission Drivers and Operations
4.1 MISSION DRIVERS
4.1.1 Pre-Mission Planning
The planning of a mission depends on a lot of factors. For example, is it to be a
single flight or a campaign of many flights? Where is the launch site? Are there
adequate launching facilities? Is it in a foreign country? Are there any overflight
restrictions? Are there international participants? The answers to these questions
drive the implementation of a mission and its flight operations.
Antarctic Example
Probably the most difficult missions to plan are those that will be launched from
one of the polar regions. Antarctica is unique in many ways. While those flights
receive outstanding support from the National Science Foundation and its Polar
Program, it is still very far away and an extreme environment. As a result there are
demanding pre-mission planning constraints.
Even before a mission is ready to fly, there are critical logistics questions that
must be addressed. The CSBF typically ships balloons and helium one year in
advance of a scheduled flight. Thus by May of the preceding year (two years in
advance of the scheduled date) the science instrumentation, payloads, balloon,
communications interface and any special or unique requirement must be clearly
identified and approved by the Balloon Program Office, by the science team and
by the CSBF Operations Department.