NASA postpones balloon launch due to bad weather

NASA will announce by 2 p.m., on Tuesday, whether or not Wednesday’s weather will support a launch attempt. The first attempt to launch the balloon — designed to carry a pioneering telescope to detect ultra-high-energy cosmic rays from near space — was cancelled due to unacceptable stratospheric wind conditions.

The second attempt was cancelled due to a mechanical issue with a crane used for launch operations, which has since been resolved. The purpose of the flight is to test and validate the SPB technology with the goal of long-duration flight at mid-latitudes. In addition, the University of Chicago’s Extreme Universe Space Observatory on a Super Pressure Balloon (EUSO-SPB) is a mission of opportunity flying on the 2017 SPB test flight.

Also Read: NASA’s Kepler space telescope discover Venus twin around dim star

EUSO-SPB is designed to detect high-energy cosmic rays originating from outside our galaxy as they penetrate the Earth’s atmosphere. As these high-energy particles enter the atmosphere, they interact with nitrogen molecules in the air and create a UV fluorescence light. EUSO-SPB will be looking downward at a broad swathe of the Earth’s atmosphere to detect the UV fluorescence from these deep space cosmic rays coming in from above.