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For additional information about this web page and for feedback please contact
Pietro Bernasconi
Phone: 443 778 8970

Images of the September 2007 Campaign
       
Click on the images to view a larger version
pic name Bliss Carkhuff working on top of the SBI gondola which is housed inside NASA Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility in Fort Sumner (NM).
pic name Top of the SBI gondola. The round disk is the so called Reaction Wheel used to orient the gondola in azimuth. The picture also shows the point from which the gondola is suspended.
pic name Our work area inside CSBF's integration building. The yellow structure is part of the crane used to lift the gondola when inside the building.
pic name Bliss and Nathan on top of the scaffolding are installing the battery box into the mezzanine of the SBI gondola.
pic name Shot of the battery box installed on the mezzanine. The box on the right is the pressure vessel housing one of the SBI control computers. The box on the left houses the hard drives for data storage.
pic name Front side of the SBI telescope covered by the Mylar thermal blankets to protect the tube from the heat of the Sun. The white square with the two round holes on the lower right is the protruding part of the pointing telescope. It is used to acquire and track the Sun during the scientific observations.
pic name This shot shows the back side of the SBI telescope. The telescope tube (also covered in Mylar blankets) is visible in the center of the picture. The white hexagonal box covers the SBI camera and filter wheel. The square box on the upper right is the pressure vessel housing the computer controlling the camera.
pic name This is our control station from where we can survey the payload status and health, as well as send commands to the instrument. The screen on the left shows a shot from one of our 3 video cameras installed on the gondola frame. With the same monitor we can also view images taken by the science detector.
pic name SBI hanging from the "Big Bill" launch vehicle during a session of pointing and functional tests. The two solar panels are flown by CSBF to test a new type of solar arrays. Hanging on the bottom is the electronics equipment used by CSBF to control the balloon and to maintain communications between the payload and the ground.
pic name Another view of the gondola during pointing tests.
pic name Rear of the telescope while pointing at the Sun from the ground. The back is covered with the balloon material which shields the telescope from residual wind shear (still present at 120 kft altitude), but transparent in the infrared allowing radiative dissipation of heat towards the back.
pic name SBI pointing at the Sun hanging from the launch vehicle and the CSBF integration building on the background.
pic name Another shot of SBI while pointing at the Sun close to sunset.
pic name Pin and Wess (from JPL) next to their instrument, the Planetoscope Precursor Experiment (PPE), which took a ride on our gondola.
pic name Another image of the PPE instrument. Essentially it is a Michelson interferometer that measures the level of air turbulence in the atmosphere at float altitude. The round box is a pressurized vessel containing the laser for the interferometer. One arm of the interferometer travels through a plexiglass rod and is the reference arm. The second arm travels through air. A change in the temperature of the air along the path of the arm in air causes a change in the optical path which is detected as an fringe interference pattern where the two beams are recombined.
pic name The SBI team proudly poses in font of the gondola. From left to right: Harry Eaton, Matthew Noble, Pietro Bernasconi, Nathan Rolander, Bliss Carkhuff.
pic name CSBF personnel installs the ballast hopper and crush pads during our integration test, the day before launch.
pic name LAUNCH DAY! It is September 13, 2007 at about 3 am local time. The gondola gets its final adjustments before launch.
pic name The gondola is in position at the launch pad, hanging from the launch vehicle. Bliss makes a final visual check to make sure everything looks good.
pic name SBI is ready for launch! We are waiting for the balloon inflation.
pic name Balloon inflation begins. The balloon has a volume of 22 Million cubic feet and once at float altitude will be as large as a football field.
pic name The helium being pumped in the balloon starts pulling the flight train. The parachute installed in line after the balloon and before the gondola start getting raised above ground.
pic name Getting close to full inflation. The helium is pumped into the balloon via the two white tubes. The balloon is being held to the ground by that heavy round thing (the spool) on the center/right of the image.
pic name LAUNCH! It is 7:14 am local time and the spool is being lifted letting the balloon free.
pic name The balloon slowly raises. The two tubes used to inflate it wave in the air making the balloon look like a gigantic jellyfish.
pic name The balloon continues to raise and carries with it the parachute.
pic name The balloon reaches the low lying clouds covering the launch site and soon disappears from view ... but the gondola is still attached to the launch vehicle.
pic name Now the balloon is almost straight above the gondola. The time to release the payload is close!
pic name And off it goes! We have a liftoff!
pic name Goodbye SBI have a great flight!
pic name Later in the morning the payload now at float altitude comes back over the launch site. It is as big as a pea held at arms length and very bright.
pic name It is now about 8 pm past sunset, the payload is about 250 miles away towards the West but still visible because at 120,000 feet the Sun has not set yet and the balloon still shines like a very bright star on the upper right of this picture.
pic name A closer look.
pic name This shot was taken by the people sent to chase the balloon. It is night on the ground but the Sun still illuminates the balloon. This is how UFO stories get created! Note the parachute and the payload hanging below the balloon.
pic name SBI lands in the middle of the night on a mesa in norther Arizona, not far from the Petrified Forest National Park. The following pictures are taken by the recovery crew the next day. The landing was HARD and the gondola sustained some significant damage.
pic name The ballast hopper is smashed like a pancake and the crush pads are gone.
pic name
pic name The gondola took a tumble flipping over its top before coming to a rest. Nevertheless the telescope was well protected and survived completely undamaged.
pic name The dirt on the top upper right corner of the gondola indicates where it hit the ground while standing upside-down.
pic name Debris filed.
pic name CSBF control electronics smashed by the rough landing. Despite the bad landing our electronics and computers survived without any major damage. The gondola frame though took a good beating but we will repair it and we will fly again!