BIG60 + BOOMS

The objective of the flight was to test a 60 million cubic foot volume balloon -known as the "Big 60"- which is the largest zero pressure balloon succesfully flown to date. It is manufactured by Aerostar using polyethilene 0.0004 inches thick that allows to take payloads approaching 900-1,000 kg to altitudes in excess of 45 km.

This particular design is specially attractive for those experiments that need to reach extremely high altitudes during long periods of time to make scientific observations. The balloon is in the process of qualification to be incorporated into NASA's balloon inventory.

As a payload of opportunity was included in the flight an experiment called BOOMS which is the acronym for Balloon Observation of Microburst Studies. The instrument designed at the Montana State University in Bozeman, was created to observe flashes of X-ray light that sporadically appear in the atmosphere of Earth's poles, known as microbursts. Microbursts are the result of high-energy electrons penetrating Earth's atmosphere and colliding with atmospheric gases. These collisions release bursts of X-rays that are quickly reabsorbed by the atmosphere, thus preventing any measurement from Earth's surface. The BOOMS instrument is the purposed solution for measuring these microbursts of X-rays.

A Balloon on a long duration trajectory near the poles of the earth travel slow enough to allow instruments to record data from multiple auroras in the same location. Since microbursts occur in the same areas as auroras, balloons provided the best platform on which to capture the high-resolution imagery needed to understand them.

Balloon launched on: 7/13/2024 at 14:39 UTC
Launch site: European Space Range, Kiruna, Sweden  
Balloon launched by: Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility (CSBF)
Balloon manufacturer/size/composition: Zero Pressure Balloon Aerostar 60.000.000 cuft
Flight identification number: 741NT
End of flight (L for landing time, W for last contact, otherwise termination time): 7/16/2024 at 16:39 UTC (L)
Balloon flight duration (F: time at float only, otherwise total flight time in d:days / h:hours or m:minutes - ): 3 d 2 h
Landing site: SE of Taloyoak, Boothia Peninsula, in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut, Canada.

The balloon was launched from ESRANGE at 14:39 UTC on July 13, 2024. After a nominal ascent phase it reached float altitude of 156.000 ft and started the westward crossing of the Atlantic Ocean towards Canada. The flight was terminated at 16:40 utc on July 16, 2024. Landing occured in a spot located southeast of Taloyoak, Boothia Peninsula, in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut, Canada. Total flight time was 3 days and 2 hours.

• BOOMS website Montana State University
• Historic giant balloon to be launched from Esrange SSC website
• NASA balloons study atmosphere and cosmos Physics Today 77 (10), 22-23 (2024)