Related papers: Development of Instruments for Space Exploration U…
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…
We present an open source toolkit of flight-proven electronic devices which can be used to track, terminate and recover high altitude balloon flights and payloads. Comprising a beacon, pyrotechnic and non-pyrotechnic cut-down devices plus…
The Polarized Instrument for Long-wavelength Observation of the Tenuous interstellar medium (PILOT) is a balloon-borne experiment aiming at measuring the polarized emission of thermal dust at a wavelength of 240 mm (1.2 THz). A first PILOT…
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…
Balloon- and space-borne cosmic-ray experiments employ plastic scintillators read out by silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) to achieve picosecond-level time resolutions for triggering and particle identification. The performance of these…
WindBorne Systems has developed a constellation of long-duration atmospheric balloons to collect meteorological data across the globe, filling gaps in current in-situ data collection methods. Each Global Sounding Balloon (GSB) is capable of…
We present the thermal model of the Balloon-borne Large-Aperture Submillimeter Telescope for Polarimetry (BLASTPol). This instrument was successfully flown in two circumpolar flights from McMurdo, Antarctica in 2010 and 2012. During these…
Sensitive wide-field observations of polarized thermal emission from interstellar dust grains will allow astronomers to address key outstanding questions about the life cycle of matter and energy driving the formation of stars and the…
I review the transfer of technology from accelerator-based equipment to space-borne astroparticle detectors. Requirements for detection, identification and measurement of ions, electrons and photons in space are recalled. The additional…
PoGOLite is a hard X-ray polarimeter operating in the 25-100 keV energy band. The instrument design is optimised for the observation of compact astrophysical sources. Observations are conducted from a stabilised stratospheric balloon…
X-Calibur is a balloon-borne telescope that measures the polarization of high-energy X-rays in the 15--50keV energy range. The instrument makes use of the fact that X-rays scatter preferentially perpendicular to the polarization direction.…
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…
An attitude determination system for balloon-borne experiments is presented. The system provides pointing information in azimuth and elevation for instruments flying on stratospheric balloons over Antarctica. In-flight attitude is given by…
We have modelled the hard X-ray background expected for a high-altitude balloon flight of the Energetic X-ray Telescope Experiment (EXITE2), an imaging phoswich detector/telescope for the 20--600 keV energy range. Photon and neutron-induced…
The paper presents the design and qualification tests of an airborne experimental setup to determine cosmic ray-flux in the lower stratospheric regions of the earth's atmosphere. The concept of coincidence is implemented to preferentially…
The BLAST Observatory is a proposed superpressure balloon-borne polarimeter designed for a future ultra-long duration balloon campaign from Wanaka, New Zealand. To maximize scientific output while staying within the stringent superpressure…
The testing of atmosphere-breathing electric propulsion intakes is an important step in the development of functional propulsion systems which provide sustained drag compensation in very low Earth orbits. To make satellite operations more…
We have observed cosmic-ray electrons from 10 GeV to 800 GeV by a long duration balloon flight using Polar Patrol Balloon (PPB) in Antarctica. The observation was carried out for 13 days at an average altitude of 35 km in January 2004. The…
We report suborbital in situ measurements of atmospheric thermodynamic variables and ionizing cosmic radiation obtained during a stratospheric balloon experiment conducted over the Mexican Plateau. The flight reached a maximum geometric…
The Cosmic Infrared Background Experiment (CIBER) is a suite of four instruments designed to study the near infrared (IR) background light from above the Earth's atmosphere. The instrument package comprises two imaging telescopes designed…