Related papers: A New Paradigm in Space Based Experiments Using Ru…
High altitude scientific balloons offer unique opportunities to carry scientific payloads to stratospheric altitudes at a cost several orders of magnitude lower than corresponding satellite missions. Balloon-borne payloads are easy to…
Below the knee in the cosmic ray spectrum, balloon and spacecraft experiments offer the capability of direct composition and energy measurements on the primary particles. A major difficulty is obtaining enough exposure to extend the range…
Atmosphere layers, especially the troposphere, hinder the astronomical observation. For more than 100 years astronomers have tried observing from balloons to avoid turbulence and extinction. New developments in cardsize computers, RF…
The cosmic-ray proton, helium, and muon spectra at small atmospheric depths of 4.5 -- 28 g/cm^2 were precisely measured during the slow descending period of the BESS-2001 balloon flight. The variation of atmospheric secondary particle…
Venus is known for its extreme surface temperature and its sulfuric acid clouds. But the cloud layers on Venus have similar temperature and pressure conditions to those on the surface of Earth and are conjectured to be a possible habitat…
Launching orbital and suborbital rockets from a high altitude is beneficial because of e.g. nozzle optimisation and reduced drag. Aeroplanes and gas balloons have been used for the purpose. Here we present a concept where a balloon is…
We present a new one-dimensional calculation of low and intermediate energy atmospheric muon and neutrino fluxes, using up-to-date data on primary cosmic rays and hadronic interactions. We study several sources of uncertainties relevant to…
BFORE is a NASA high-altitude ultra-long-duration balloon mission proposed to measure the cosmic microwave background (CMB) across half the sky during a 28-day mid-latitude flight launched from Wanaka, New Zealand. With the unique access to…
Cosmic rays interacting with the Earth's atmosphere generate extensive air showers, which produce Cherenkov, fluorescence and radio emissions. These emissions are key signatures for detection by ground-based, sub-orbital, and…
Future cosmology space missions will concentrate on measuring the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background, which potentially carries invaluable information about the earliest phases of the evolution of our universe. Such ambitious…
The atmospheric secondary proton flux is studied for altitudes extending from sea level up to the top of atmosphere by means of a 3-dimensional Monte-Carlo simulation procedure successfully used previously to account for flux measurements…
We have designed and developed a compact ultraviolet imaging payload to fly on a range of possible platforms such as high altitude balloon experiments, cubesats, space missions, etc. The primary science goals are to study the bright UV…
Increasing interest in energetic particle effects on weather and climate has motivated development of a miniature scintillator-based detector intended for deployment on meteorological radiosondes or unmanned airborne vehicles. The detector…
Several payloads for hard X-ray (20-600 keV) imaging with coded aperture telescopes have been developed for balloon flight observations of cosmic x-ray sources. We briefly review the characteristics of these, particularly the EXITE2 system.…
Stratospheric balloons offer cost-effective access to space and grant the opportunity for fast scientific innovation cycles and higher-risk explorations. In addition to science pathfinders, they serve as platforms for technology…
The best measurement of the cosmic ray positron flux available today was performed by the HEAT balloon experiment more than 10 years ago. Given the limitations in weight and power consumption for balloon experiments, a novel approach was…
We present new measurements of heavy cosmic-ray nuclei at high energies per- formed during the first flight of the balloon-borne cosmic-ray experiment CREAM (Cosmic-Ray Energetics And Mass). This instrument uses multiple charge detectors…
Space astronomy in the last 40 years has largely been done from spacecraft in low Earth orbit (LEO) for which the technology is proven and delivery mechanisms are readily available. However, new opportunities are arising with the surge in…
Ever since its inception four decades back, Balloon Facility of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Hyderabad has been functioning with the needs of its user scientists at its focus. During the early nineties, when the X-ray…
FIREBall-2 is a stratospheric balloon-borne 1-m telescope coupled to a UV multi-object slit spectrograph designed to map the faint UV emission surrounding z~0.7 galaxies and quasars through their Lyman-alpha line emission. This…