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NASA Scientific Balloons

NASA's scientific balloon program is managed out of the agency's Wallops Flight Facility.

Viewing Posts from May 2025

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    NASA Safely Ends Second Super Pressure Balloon Test Flight 

    A graphic map with a red line and points on two land masses, blue ocean surrounds.

    The second test flight of NASA’s 2025 New Zealand Super Pressure Balloon Campaign was safely terminated at 1:30 a.m., Tuesday, May 13 (U.S. Eastern Time) over Argentina. The mission remained in flight for 9 days, 6 hours, and 36 minutes.   Balloon operators from NASA’s Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility (CSBF) in Palestine, Texas, sent flight termination commands […]

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    NASA Ends Super Pressure Balloon Flight After 17 Days

    A graphic of a world map showing land masses and ocean with a red line and markers on each end.

    The first flight of NASA’s 2025 New Zealand Super Pressure Balloon Campaign was safely terminated at 7:46 a.m. Sunday, May 4 (in U.S. Eastern Time) after 17 days, 13 hours, and 47 minutes in flight around the Southern Hemisphere’s mid-latitude band. Flight controllers at the agency’s Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility in Palestine, Texas, conducted a […]

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    Second NASA Super Pressure Balloon Launches from New Zealand

    A large scientific balloon lifts from the ground. It’s attached by a long cable to a vehicle on the ground, which has a boxy scientific payload dangling from the right side on a long arm. The background has a mountain range with some clouds against a blue sky.

    The second of two planned scientific balloon flights for NASA’s 2025 New Zealand Super Pressure Balloon Campaign successfully lifted off from Wānaka Airport, New Zealand, at 11:38 a.m. NZST, Sunday, May 4 (7:38 p.m., Saturday, May 3 in U.S. Eastern Time). The 18.8 million-cubic-foot super pressure balloon will ascend over the next few hours until […]

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    NASA Balloon Circumnavigates World in 16 Days

    A graphic of the world, with focus on the Southern Hemisphere and a red line, indicating a balloon path, completes a circle.

    More than 16 days after lifting off from Wānaka, New Zealand, NASA’s football-stadium-sized super pressure balloon has completed its first full circumnavigation of the globe — a significant milestone for the test flight around the Southern Hemisphere’s mid-latitudes. The balloon crossed the 169.24 east longitude line at 7:22 a.m. Saturday, May 3 (U.S. Eastern Time). […]

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