MULTI-INSTRUMENTAL GONDOLA

The multi-experiment research gondola used on this flight was provided by Sage Cheshire, an aerospace company from Lancaster, California, and housed various instruments from different institutions as part of a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) initiative. It was one of the attempts that the company carried out since 2013 to capitalize on the experience gained in balloon-based systems as a result of its participation as main contractor in the Red Bull Stratos project that allowed Felix Baumgartner's record stratospheric jump in 2012. At left we can see a detailed image of the platform (click to enlarge).

The educational institutions that flew their experiments on this mission included the University of Florida and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) / Lincoln Labs. In the first case the experiment was the so-called Optical Precision Time-transfer Instrument (OPTI) a technological demonstrator developed at the University of Florida as part of CHOMPTT a cubesat-class precision timing satellite being developed in collaboration with NASA Ames Research Center, equipped with atomic clocks to be synchronized with a ground clock via laser pulses.

Additional packages were also flown for Space Environment Technologies, a Los Angeles based technology firm and the Southwest Research Institute (SWRI) from Albuquerque.

Balloon launched on: 10/28/2014
Launch site: Holloman Air Force Base, Alamogordo, New Mexico, US  
Balloon launched by: ATA AEROSPACE
Balloon manufacturer/size/composition: Zero Pressure Balloon 823.000 cuft
End of flight (L for landing time, W for last contact, otherwise termination time): 10/28/2014
Balloon flight duration (F: time at float only, otherwise total flight time in d:days / h:hours or m:minutes - ): ~ 8 h
Payload weight: 890 lbs

The balloon was launched from the historical Nenninger site at Holloman AFB, in New Mexico on October 28, 2014. After a nominal ascent the balloon reached a float altitude of 90.000 ft that was maintained for about six hours.

• Information of the flight Facebook page of Sage Cheshire
• Sage Cheshire balloon launch Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering newsletter, Fall 2015