The NASA balloon program: an overview Original Research Article

The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Balloon Program continues to support the scientific community providing enhanced capabilities across a spectrum of balloon related disciplines. Long duration ballooning (LDB) continues to be a prominent element of the program with a mission model of a two flight campaign in each the Northern and Southern Hemispheres per year. Both polar and mid-latitude LDB capabilities are on-going operational elements of the flight program. Recently, the balloon LDB platform has been included as a carrier option for the SMEX (small explorer) Mission announcement of opportunities. The comprehensive research and development (R&D) effort has been reorganized recently and a new plan of activities to provide advancements in balloon technology development has been initiated. The new ultra-long duration balloon (ULDB) project for the development of a 100-day duration balloon capability has been progressing with flight tests of subsystems and new balloon design having been conducted. The Program has also continued to introduce new technology and improvements into flight systems, ground systems and operational techniques. An overview of the various aspects of the NASA Balloon Program will be presented.