SUPERPRESSURE BALLOON

The objective of the mission was to test a model of the future long duration superpressure balloon being developed by the Japanese Space Agency (Jaxa).

The pumpkin-shaped balloon was launched at 5:41 Japan Standard Time and ascending at a mean velocity of 250 meters per minute it reached float altitude of 25.2 km 105 minutes after released. At that point the balloon was located about 90 km east-north-east of the launch base and started to pressurize, but at 7:25 when the internal pressure achieved the 64 Pa level, the film tore at the lower part of the balloon developing a leak that forced to terminate the flight.

Despite the failure, JAXA obtained valuable data of the rupture mechanism to study the reasons why the internal pressure was not maintained and even the balloon failed at a lower pressure than expected. For this purpose the images obtained from an up-looking camera located in the gondola will be a key factor to overcome the problem in future tests.

Balloon launched on: 8/27/2010 at 5:41 jst
Launch site: Multipurpose Aviation Research Field, Taiki-Cho, Hokkaido, Japan  
Balloon launched by: Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) / Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
Balloon manufacturer/size/composition: Super Pressure Balloon 5.000 m3
Flight identification number: B10-03
End of flight (L for landing time, W for last contact, otherwise termination time): 8/27/2010 at 7:25 jst
Balloon flight duration (F: time at float only, otherwise total flight time in d:days / h:hours or m:minutes - ): 2 h
Landing site: In the Pacific Ocean

• Details of the experiment (in Japanese) ISAS / JAXA website