The NASA Balloon Program: looking to the future

Smith, I. S.

doi:10.1016/j.asr.2003.07.052

Cited by 23 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 7 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Assuming that a more robust collecting device can be engineered, special emphasis should be placed on culture-independent processing (Griffin et al 2001;Griffin 2007) and measuring UV-induced DNA mutations . The ability to study high altitudes (up to 33 km) with sophisticated, long-duration science payloads may be available soon through ultra-long duration (up to 100 days) balloons developed by the United States Antarctic Program and NASA (Smith 2004;Gregory and Stepp 2004;National Science Foundation 2008). Measuring cells in situ (Pratt et al 2009) for weeks, or possibly longer, could resolve the residency time question addressed throughout this study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stratospheric microbiology at 20 km over the Pacific Ocean

2009

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

An aerobiology sampling flight at 20 km was conducted on 28 April 2008 over the Pacific Ocean (36.5°N, 118-149°W), a period of time that coincided with the movement of Asian dust across the ocean. The aim of this study was to confirm the presence of viable bacteria and fungi within a transoceanic, atmospheric bridge and to improve the resolution of flight hardware processing techniques. Isolates of the microbial strains recovered were analyzed with ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) sequencing to identify bacterial species Bacillus sp., Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus endophyticus, and the fungal genus Penicillium. Satellite imagery and ground-based radiosonde observations were used to measure dust movement and characterize the high-altitude environment at the time of collection. Considering the atmospheric residency time (7-10 days), the extreme temperature regime of the environment (-75°C), and the absence of a mechanism that could sustain particulates at high altitude, it is unlikely that our samples indicate a permanent, stratospheric ecosystem. However, the presence of viable fungi and bacteria in transoceanic stratosphere remains relevant to understanding the distribution and extent of microbial life on Earth.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stratospheric microbiology at 20 km over the Pacific Ocean

2009

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Recently, NASA has started to develop an Ultra Long Duration Balloon (ULDB) to support global scientific observations above 99% of the earth's atmosphere (Smith, 2004). These balloons are intended to carry Nomenclature E m Young's modulus of film E t A axial stiffness of tendon f nodal force vector K stiffness matrix K sup stiffness matrix for lobe superelement n number of lobes of balloon p pressure p crit buckling pressure r radius of curvature of lobe R rotation matrix T symmetry transformation matrix u,v local coordinate system for lobe cross-section u nodal displacement vector w chord length W arc length x,y radial and vertical coordinates for tendon x 0 radius of curvature of tendon at equator a angle subtended by lobe g non-dimensional curvilinear coordinate along tendon m…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Buckling pressure of “pumpkin” balloons

Pagitz¹,

Pellegrino²

2007

International Journal of Solids and Structures

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper presents a computational study of the critical buckling pressure of pumpkin balloons, which consist of a thin, compliant membrane constrained by stiff meridional tendons. The n-fold symmetric shape of a pumpkin balloon with n identical lobes is exploited by adopting a symmetry-adapted coordinate system, which leads to the tangent stiffness matrix in an efficient block-diagonal form; the smallest eigenvalue of a particular block leads to the buckling pressure for the balloon. Two different types of balloon design are considered. Extensive results are obtained for the buckling pressures of a set of 10 m diameter experimental balloons and also for an 80 m diameter flight balloon. The key findings are as follows: the same type of buckling mode, forming four circumferential waves is critical for most of the balloons that have been analysed; balloons with flatter lobes are more stable, and the buckling pressure varies with an inverse power-law of the number of lobes; increasing the Young's modulus, the Poisson's ratio of the membrane, or the diameter of the end fitting has the effect of increasing the buckling pressure; but increasing the axial stiffness of the tendons has the effect of decreasing the buckling pressure.

show abstract

“…Stratosphere is the most suitable space for the balloon because of yearlong steady wind field in specific altitude (Schmidt et al, 2007). Therefore study in stratospheric balloon becomes the focus in many counties in recent years (Smith, 2004;Makino, 2002;Agrawal et al, 2002). In order to fulfill the tasks of a high altitude balloon, ascending process is an essential part of ballooning.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influences of initial launch conditions on flight performance of high altitude balloon ascending process

Zhang

2015

Advances in Space Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The NASA Balloon Program: looking to the future

Cited by 23 publications

References 7 publications

Stratospheric microbiology at 20 km over the Pacific Ocean

Stratospheric microbiology at 20 km over the Pacific Ocean

Buckling pressure of “pumpkin” balloons

Influences of initial launch conditions on flight performance of high altitude balloon ascending process

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About