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research article

Data Downloaded via Parachute from a NASA Super-Pressure Balloon

Sirks, Ellen L.
•
Massey, Richard
•
Gill, Ajay S.
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November 1, 2023
Aerospace

In April 2023, the superBIT telescope was lifted to the Earth's stratosphere by a helium-filled super-pressure balloon to acquire astronomical imaging from above (99.5% of) the Earth's atmosphere. It was launched from New Zealand and then, for 40 days, circumnavigated the globe five times at a latitude 40 to 50 degrees south. Attached to the telescope were four "drs" (Data Recovery System) capsules containing 5 TB solid state data storage, plus a gnss receiver, Iridium transmitter, and parachute. Data from the telescope were copied to these, and two were dropped over Argentina. They drifted 61 km horizontally while they descended 32 km, but we predicted their descent vectors within 2.4 km: in this location, the discrepancy appears irreducible below similar to 2 km because of high speed, gusty winds and local topography. The capsules then reported their own locations within a few metres. We recovered the capsules and successfully retrieved all of superBIT's data despite the telescope itself being later destroyed on landing.

  • Details
  • Metrics
Type
research article
DOI
10.3390/aerospace10110960
Web of Science ID

WOS:001107980100001

Author(s)
Sirks, Ellen L.
Massey, Richard
Gill, Ajay S.
Anderson, Jason
Benton, Steven J.
Brown, Anthony M.
Clark, Paul
English, Joshua
Everett, Spencer W.
Fraisse, Aurelien A.
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Date Issued

2023-11-01

Publisher

MDPI

Published in
Aerospace
Volume

10

Issue

11

Start page

960

Subjects

Technology

•

Balloon Instrumentation

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Data Handling

•

Data Compression

•

Models And Simulations

•

Large Detector-Systems Performance

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
LASTRO  
FunderGrant Number

Royal Society

RGF/EA/180026

UK Science and Technology Facilities Council

ST/V005766/1

Impact Acceleration Award

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Available on Infoscience
February 20, 2024
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/204424
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