By 
July 14th, 2024
The largest stratospheric balloon ever to be launched from Sweden’s Esrange Space Center is on its way to its destination in North America.
Its mission is to study X-rays in the polar atmosphere.
Toted skyward by the huge balloon on July 13, an onboard experiment aims to take the first high-resolution images of X-ray radiation from so-called electron microbursts.
This precipitation only occurs in certain places in the Earth’s magnetic field.
NASA BOOMS balloon launch.
Image credit: SSC
BOOMS payload
As noted by a Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) statement, the Balloon Observation of Microburst Scales (BOOMS) payload is a high-resolution imager.
Given the balloon’s projected altitude, BOOMS enables study of radiation that would otherwise be blocked by Earth’s atmosphere.
Image credit: Google/SSC/Inside Outer Space screengrab
“Qualification of this balloon will allow NASA to continue to stretch the boundaries of what we provide to the scientific community,” says Andrew Hamilton, Director of NASA’s Balloon Program Office in the SSC statement.
Follow the flight in real-time:
https://www.csbf.nasa.gov/map/balloon4/Google741NT.htm
Go to this video for the delicate art of launching a giant, instrument-carrying balloon at:
https://sscspace.canto.global/s/NBHUN?viewIndex=1&column=video&id=5gv1ro9ood5ddad3d3kks0t54l
Posted in Space News
