NASA is launching its annual Antarctic Long Duration Balloon Campaign in Antarctica around December 1. The campaign includes three scientific balloon flights scheduled to take place from LDB Camp near McMurdo Station in Antarctica. NASA’s field-sized, unpressurized balloons will support five long-duration missions, with one mission aiming to break NASA’s record for the longest balloon flight, which stands at 55 days, 1 hour and 34 minutes.
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“The annual Antarctic Long Duration Balloon Campaign is the science program that stands out for its long-duration missions,” said Andrew Hamilton, deputy administrator of NASA’s Balloon Program Office (BPO). “The ambient and stratospheric atmospheric conditions provide a unique and valuable opportunity for space-like flight missions ,lasting days or weeks. The BPO team is excited to provide support for all of missions this year.”
The centerpiece of this year's campaign is the Galactic/Extragalactic ULDB Spectroscopic Terahertz Observatory (GUSTO) . This astrophysical mission is managed by NASA's Explorer Programs Office at Goddard Space Flight Center. The mission is led by Principal Investigator Christopher Walker of the University of Arizona, with support from the Johns Hopkins. GUSTO will aim to remain in orbit over the southern hemisphere for more than 55 days, mapping a large portion of the Milky Way, including the galactic center and the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud.
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The GUSTO telescope is equipped with highly sensitive detectors for the emission lines of carbon, oxygen and nitrogen. By measuring these emission lines, the GUSTO team will gain deep insight into the full life cycle of the interstellar medium, the cosmic material found between stars. GUSTO's scientific observations will be carried out from Antarctica, offering sufficient observation time in the air, access to astronomical objects and solar energy provided by the Antarctic summer.
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Zero-pressure balloons have open ducts that allow gas to escape and prevent pressure from building up inside the balloon. The gas expands as it heats up as the balloon rises above the Earth's surface or as the temperature rises from the rising sun. These balloons, which usually have shorter flight times due to gas loss from the day-night cycle, can only fly long-duration missions during the uninterrupted summer light of the polar regions, where the balloon is exposed to continuous sunlight.
Source: nasa.gov
