Slender hoses, blown into arcs by the wind, partially fill the balloon with helium before launch. A large portion of the balloon is left unfilled so it can expand as it ascends into the stratosphere, where air pressure is considerably lower.
Click on image for full size
Photo by Carlye Calvin, ©UCAR.

Solar Telescope Reaches 120,000 Feet on Jumbo-Jet-Sized Balloon
News story originally written on October 24, 2007

The Sunrise project just had a successful first launch. This project is a huge balloon bigger then a 747 jumbo jet that carries science instruments very, very high in the Earth's atmosphere.

This first launch was made from New Mexico and stayed up for about 10 hours. The next flights will be made over the Arctic in the summer of 2009, launching from Sweden. Then the balloon will stay up for several days to as long as two weeks at a time.

The main aims of these launches are for the science instruments to take pictures of the Sun's surface and to look into the Sun's magnetic field. The magnetic field of the Sun is tied to solar activity which can cause storms that hit Earth.

The Sunrise project was a hard one to design and make. Engineers had to design a balloon that could carry 6,000 pounds of equipment. The equipment also had to be able to parachute back to Earth so scientists could pick it up and launch it on another balloon. The equipment had to handle big changes in temperature too. Working together, engineers and scientists tackled these problems and more! Would you like to be an engineer some day tackling problems like these?

The Sunrise project has many partners including the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and NASA.

Last modified March 10, 2008 by Jennifer Bergman.

You might also be interested in:

Cool It! Game

Check out our online store - minerals, fossils, books, activities, jewelry, and household items!...more

The Arctic: Earth's North Polar Region

In the Arctic, you will find the Arctic Ocean surrounded by the continents of Europe, Asia, and North America. You will find the geographic North Pole and the magnetic North Pole there; both are in the...more

The Photosphere - the "Surface" of the Sun

Most of the energy we receive from the Sun is the visible (white) light emitted from the photosphere. The photosphere is one of the coolest regions of the Sun (6000 K), so only a small fraction (0.1%)...more

The Sun's Magnetic Field

Text for this level has not been written yet. Please see the "Intermediate" text for this page if you want to learn about this topic. To get to the "Intermediate" text, click on the blue "Intermediate"...more

Triggers of Volcanic Eruptions in Oregon's Mount Hood Investigated

Scientists have learned that Mount Hood, Oregon's tallest mountain, has erupted in the past due to the mixing of two different types of magma. Adam Kent, a geologist at Oregon State University, says this...more

Oldest Earth Mantle Reservoir Discovered

The Earth's mantle is a rocky, solid shell that is between the Earth's crust and the outer core. The mantle is made up of many different reservoirs that have different chemical compositions. Scientists...more

It’s Not Your Fault – A Typical Fault, Geologically Speaking, That Is

Some faults look strong and like they wouldn’t cause an earthquake. But it turns out that they can slip and slide like weak faults causing earthquakes. Scientists have been looking at one of these faults...more

Lower Solar Activity Linked to Changes in Sun's Conveyor Belt

The sun goes through cycles that last approximately 11 years. These solar cycle include phases with more magnetic activity, sunspots, and solar flares. They also include phases with less activity. The...more

Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part is sponsored in part through grants from federal agencies (NASA and NOAA), and partnerships with affiliated organizations, including the American Geophysical Union, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Earth System Information Partnership, the American Meteorological Society, the National Center for Science Education, and TERC. The American Geophysical Union and the American Geosciences Institute are Windows to the Universe Founding Partners. NESTA welcomes new Institutional Affiliates in support of our ongoing programs, as well as collaborations on new projects. Contact NESTA for more information. NASA ESIP NCSE HHMI AGU AGI AMS NOAA