BLISS (Balloon-borne Laser In-Situ Sensor)

BLISS was the acronym of Balloonborne Laser In Situ Sensor a high-resolution absorption spectrometer designed to provide measurements of the concentrations of ozone and other stratospheric species and their diurnal variations. It was developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology starting in 1978. Click in the logo at left for more detailed views.

This complex instrument used second-harmonic detection of the absorption of tunable diode laser (TDL) radiation in a 1-km path length defined by a retroreflector lowered 0.5 km below the balloon gondola. A He-Ne laser and co-aligned TV camera with CID imaging were used for retroreflector tracking under microprocessor control.

BLISS was a self-contained instrument comprising two onboard microprocessors for instrument control and more than one hundred optical components mounted on a 1.5 by 2.0 meter optical table. The main components of the instrument were: four TDL and Dewar systems; four reference cell units; a He-Ne laser/TV camera combination for retroreflector tracking; a retroreflector and cable reel-drive assembly; a 30 x 46 tracking mirror assembly; five HgCdTe detectors with filters; an f/3.3 telescope; a periscope assembly for laser selection; an electronics package containing preamps, synchronous demodulators, microprocessor units, TDL current and temperature control units; a power-distribution box and battery pack; and numerous other optical and electrical components such as mirrors, lenses, beam splitters, filters, and mechanical choppers.

BLISS was integrated into its own gondola, which included a lithium battery pack and the telemetry transmitter/receiver system.

It was flown successfully in different configurations almost twelve times between 1982 and 1992.

Balloon launched on: 10/13/1987 at 23:27 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 N26-8/8/8/8T-23.30
Balloon serial number: R23.30-3-112
Flight identification number: 1457P
End of flight (L for landing time, W for last contact, otherwise termination time): 10/14/1987 at 6:55 utc
Landing site: 8 miles SE of Atmore, Alabama, US

• Microprocessor-controlled laser tracker for atmospheric sensing Review of Scientific Instruments 56, 547 (1985)
• Recent results in the NASA research balloon program 27th Aerospace Sciences Meeting, 1989
• Stratospheric Species Measurements With Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy SPIE The International Society for Optical Engineering, 1983, p. 105