NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility launched Langley Research Center’s Radiation Dosimetry Experiment (RaD-X) on an 11-million-cubic-foot scientific balloon at 1:06 p.m. EDT, Friday, Sept. 25, from the agency’s balloon facilities at Fort Sumner, N.M.
RaD-X will measure cosmic ray energy at two separate altitude regions in the stratosphere—above 110,000 feet and between 69,000 to 88,500 feet. The data is key to confirming Langley’s Nowcast of Atmospheric Ionizing Radiation for Aviation Safety (NAIRAS) model, which is a physics-based model that determines solar radiation and galactic cosmic ray exposure globally in real-time. The NAIRAS modeling tool will be used to help enhance aircraft safety as well as safety procedures for the International Space Station.
In addition, the balloon gondola carrying RaD-X is also carrying about 100 student experiments as part of a Cubes in Space balloon flight opportunity. This is the first time Cubes in Space has flown on a balloon.
NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility manages the agency’s scientific ballooning program. For more about NASA’s scientific balloons, see www.nasa.gov/scientificballoons.
