Just over a day after launching from Wanaka Airport, New Zealand, NASA’s Super Pressure Balloon is coming up on its first flight milestone: first land crossing.
The balloon is currently tracking to pass near Sydney, Australia, at approximately 1:30 p.m. AEST May 18 (11:30 p.m., May 17, in EDT) quickly flying past the city. The predicted flight track shows the balloon flying west into the continent and then exiting the continent to the northwest of Adelaide and eventually turning eastward in the winter stratospheric cyclone.
“The balloon is healthy and performing extremely well,” said Debbie Fairbrother, NASA’s Balloon Program Office chief. “It’s well on its way to proving this technology for long-duration, mid-latitude balloon flights at the edge of the Earth’s atmosphere.
The balloon flight is monitored real-time from NASA’s Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility in Palestine, Texas. Before any land overflight occurs, a through assessment is made of the balloon’s health, the performance of the command and control electronics and the forecast trajectory is analyzed from a safety perspective before beginning overflight operations.
Weather permitting, the balloon can be seen from the ground, especially at sunrise and sunset. People can track the real-time location of NASA’s super pressure balloon at this website: http://www.csbf.nasa.gov/newzealand/wanaka.htm.
For more information on the super pressure balloon mission, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-super-pressure-balloon-begins-globetrotting-journey.
For more information on NASA’s Balloon Program, visit: www.nasa.gov/scientificballoons.
