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Ultra-high angular resolution in astronomy has always been an important vehicle for making fundamental discoveries. Recent results in direct imaging of the vicinity of the supermassive black hole in the nucleus of the radio galaxy M87 by…

The Space InfraRed Telescope Facility (SIRTF) is a space-borne, cryogenically-cooled infrared observatory capable of studying objects ranging from our Solar System to the distant reaches of the Universe. SIRTF is the final element in NASA's…

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…

Solar observations at sub-THz frequencies detected a new flare spectral component peaking in the THz range, simultaneously with the well known microwaves component, bringing challenging constraints for interpretation. Higher THz frequencies…

The Balloon-Borne Cryogenic Telescope Testbed (BOBCAT) is a stratospheric balloon payload to develop technology for a future cryogenic suborbital observatory. A series of flights are intended to establish ultra-light dewar performance and…

In April to May 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…

Terrestrial-satellite networks are envisioned to play a significant role in the sixth-generation (6G) wireless networks. In such networks, hot air balloons are useful as they can relay the signals between satellites and ground stations.…

The atmospheric secondary antiproton flux is studied for detection altitudes extending from sea level up to about 3 earth radii, by means of a 3-dimensional Monte-Carlo simulation, successfully applied previously on other satellite and…

Present and future space missions rely on systems of increasingly demanding performance for being successful. Drag-free technology is one of the technologies that is fundamental for LISA-Pathfinder, an ESA mission whose launch is planned…

Over the past decade, sky surveys such as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey have proven the power of large data sets for answering fundamental astrophysical questions. This observational progress, based on a synergy of advances in telescope…

PoGOLino is a balloon-borne scintillator-based experiment developed to study the largely unexplored high altitude neutron environment at high geomagnetic latitudes. The instrument comprises two detectors that make use of LiCAF, a novel…

We present a new optical Tully-Fisher (TF) investigation for a complete, full-sky sample of 297 Sb-Sc spirals with redshifts between 4500 and 7000 km/s. The survey was specifically designed to provide uniform, well- calibrated data over…

This paper addresses the lack of a general methodology for the controller synthesis of an optical instrument on-board a stratospheric balloon-borne platform, such as a telescope or siderostat, to meet pointing requirements that are becoming…

Balloon-borne telescopes present unique thermal design challenges which are a combination of those present for both space and ground telescopes. At altitudes of 35-40 km, convection effects are minimal and difficult to characterize.…

The number of small satellites has grown dramatically in the past decade from tens of satellites per year in the mid-2010s to a projection of tens of thousands in orbit by the mid-2020s. This presents both problems and opportunities for…

Binary stars are crucial laboratories for stellar physics, so have been photometric targets for space missions beginning with the very first orbiting telescope (OAO-2) launched in 1968. This review traces the binary stars observed and the…

Photophoretic forces could levitate thin 10 centimeter-scale structures in Earth's stratosphere indefinitely. We develop analytical models of the thermal transpiration force on a bilayer sandwich structure in the stratosphere. Lofting is…

The Next Generation Balloon-Borne Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (BLAST-TNG) was a unique instrument for characterizing the polarized submillimeter sky at high-angular resolution. BLAST-TNG flew from the Long Duration Balloon…

A technique by which a spacecraft can interact with flows of ionized gas in space (the solar wind or interstellar medium) to be accelerated to velocities greater than the wind velocity is explored. Inspired by the dynamic soaring maneuvers…

PILOT (the Pathfinder for an International Large Optical Telescope) is a proposed 2.5 m optical/infrared telescope to be located at Dome C on the Antarctic plateau. Conditions at Dome C are known to be exceptional for astronomy. The seeing…