RADIOMETER 90 GHZ

An experiment that made a map of the Cosmic Microwave Background first order (dipole) anisotropy and set stringent limits on higher order CMB anisotropies. It was a test bed and precursor for the 90 GHz (3-mm wavelength) of the COBE satellite.

Balloon launched on: 11/4/1981 at 23:41 utc
Launch site: Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility, Palestine, Texas, US  
Balloon launched by: National Scientific Balloon Facility (NSBF)
Balloon manufacturer/size/composition: Zero Pressure Balloon Raven - 169.986 m3 (12.70 microns) / N.205-13/13T-170.0
Balloon serial number: R6.003-1-101
Flight identification number: 1271P
End of flight (L for landing time, W for last contact, otherwise termination time): 11/5/1981 at 10:34 utc
Balloon flight duration (F: time at float only, otherwise total flight time in d:days / h:hours or m:minutes - ): ~ 12.00 h
Landing site: 6 miles SE of Leaksville, Mississippi, US
Payload weight: 858 kgs

• 3 MM Anisotropy Measurement: on the quadrupole component in the Cosmic Baxkground Radiation Submited to Physical Review Letters
• A map of the cosmic background radiation at 3 millimeters Astrophysical Journal, Part 2, vol. 298, Nov. 1, 1985, p. L1-L5
• Measurement of the large-scale anisotropy of the Cosmic Background Radiation at 3 MM Ph.D Thesis by Gerald Lewis Epstein, University of California, Berkeley, 1983
• Measurement of the large-scale anisotropy of the cosmic background radiation at 3 mm Ph.D. Thesis by Gerald Lewis Epstein
• National Scientific Balloon Facility Annual Report FY 1982 National Center for Atmospheric Research, February 1983
• Observations of the large scale anisotropy in the Cosmic Background Radiation at 3 mm Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. LBNL Report #: LBL-18759