Flying high over Antarctica, NASA’s long duration balloon has broken the record for longest flight by a balloon of its size.
The record-breaking balloon, carrying the Super Trans-Iron Galactic
Element Recorder (Super-TIGER) experiment, has been afloat for 46 days
and is on its third orbit around the South Pole, NASA said.
The Super-TIGER flight shattered the previous record of 41 days and 22
hours, previously set in 2005. The Super-TIGER team plans to fly for
another 8-10 days to have it fly closer to McMurdo Station before
terminating the flight and recovering the experiment.
Super-TIGER launched on December 8, 2012, from the long duration balloon
site near McMurdo Station, Antarctica. The massive 39-million cubic
foot scientific balloon carries the 6,000 pound Super-TIGER payload —
equivalent to a large sports utility vehicle — at a float altitude of
127,000 feet, more than four times the altitude of most commercial
airliners.
Size-wise, more than 200 blimps could fit inside the balloon.
No comments:
Post a Comment