Launch updates from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility.
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). […]
The second scientific balloon in NASA’s 2025 New Zealand Super Pressure Balloon Campaign is now flight-ready and awaits a next launch opportunity from the agency’s dedicated mid-latitude launch site at Wānaka Airport, New Zealand. This will be the second and final balloon to launch for the campaign. The 18.8-million-cubic-foot (532,000-cubic-meter) helium-filled balloon will travel the […]
NASA’s super pressure balloon test flight carrying the HIWIND payload crossed into South America around 1 p.m. EDT (5 p.m. UTC) today, Wednesday, April 23.
The balloon will pass over Chile and Argentina as it continues its globetrotting journey around the Southern Hemisphere’s mid-latitudes.
To track the flight in real-time, visit Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility’s website here.
After five days in flight, NASA’s super pressure balloon test flight carrying the HIWIND payload has nearly crossed the Pacific Ocean and is on track to reach South America Wednesday, April 23 at approximately 2 p.m. EDT (April 23, 6:00 p.m. UTC). The stadium-sized, heavy-lift scientific balloon, which launched from Wānaka, New Zealand, April 16 […]
The first super pressure balloon flight of NASA’s New Zealand Balloon Campaign reached its float altitude after lifting off from Wānaka Airport, New Zealand, at 10:44 a.m. NZST, Thursday, April 17 (6:44 p.m., Wednesday, April 16 in U.S. Eastern Time). The football-stadium-sized, heavy-lift super pressure balloon is on a mission planned for 100 days or more […]
The first 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 10:44 a.m. NZST, Thursday, April 17 (6:44 p.m., Wednesday, April 16 in U.S. Eastern Time). The 18.8 million-cubic-foot super pressure balloon is on a mission planned for 100 days […]
The window for NASA’s next scientific balloon campaign in Wānaka, New Zealand, has opened. The launches include two scheduled flights to test and qualify the agency’s super pressure balloon technology. These stadium-sized, heavy-lift balloons will travel the Southern Hemisphere’s mid-latitudes for planned missions of 100 days or more. Teams from the agency’s Wallops Flight Facility […]
