In a data collection mission about the universe, the balloon from the GUSTO mission has become the longest-flying heavy scientific balloon in NASA’s history.
The GUSTO Balloon was launched into the sky on December 31, 2023, near the McMurdo Station of the U.S. National Science Foundation in Antarctica to collect scientific data for a deeper understanding of the universe. By February 24, this massive balloon had been flying for 55 days, 1 hour, and 34 minutes over Antarctica, setting the record for the longest flight of a heavy scientific balloon ever by NASA.
The GUSTO balloon is very large with a volume of over 1.1 million m3. (Photo: NASA/Scott Battaion).
However, the flight is not over yet. The GUSTO mission is expected to last more than 60 days, but the balloon may continue to fly and break records even further. “We plan to push the limits of the balloon and fly for as long as possible to demonstrate the capabilities of long-duration balloons,” said Andrew Hamilton, acting director of NASA’s Balloon Program Office at the Wallops Flight Facility.
“The balloon and its systems are performing very well, and we have not seen any decline in the balloon’s performance. The stratospheric winds are very favorable, providing stable conditions for long flights,” Hamilton added.
The balloon is incredibly large, with a volume of over 1.1 million m3. It is tasked with carrying the GUSTO telescope to an altitude of 36 km, reaching the stratosphere above Antarctica, right at the edge of space. Here, the lack of water vapor allows the instruments to capture extremely weak terahertz signals, providing information about the interstellar environment, gases, dust, and radiation present in the space between star systems in the galaxy.
The chemical properties of the universe changed significantly after the Big Bang, which occurred about 13.8 billion years ago. To understand the process of the universe and the formation of the Milky Way (the galaxy containing our Solar System), astronomers must study the interstellar environment in galaxies of different ages.
GUSTO aims to achieve this by examining the composition of carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen in the Milky Way and in the neighboring galaxy known as the Large Magellanic Cloud. By comparing them, experts can learn about the different stages in the lifecycle of stars, including their birth and evolution.
