EXCITE 2024: Launch and Recovery

The EXCITE (EXoplanet Climate Infrared TElescope) mission prepares for launch via a scientific balloon in this photograph taken on Aug. 31, 2024, at NASA’s Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility in Fort Sumner, New Mexico.

Credit: NASA/Sophia Roberts

Alt text: A large vehicle hosts a telescope.

Image description: A large vehicle stands in the center as dawn breaks over a desert landscape. The vehicle has a long arm extending forward. At the end of the arm dangles a shiny silver telescope. The top is conical, and various rectangular structures are attached to the bottoms and sides. The vehicle has lights along the arm that illuminate the telescope. There’s a truck parked to the vehicle’s left. In the distance, the sky is orange at the horizon, shading from purple to blue at the top of the image. There is a line of streaky clouds across the center.

The EXCITE team stands in front of the telescope the morning of launch. From left to right: Lee Bernard (Arizona State University), Annalies Kleyheeg (Brown University), Greg Tucker (Brown University), Steve Maher (Science Systems and Applications, Inc./NASA), Peter Nagler (NASA), Tim Rehm (Brown University), Khing Klangboonkrong, Kyle Helson (University of Maryland, Baltimore County/NASA), and Javier Romualdez (StarSpec Technology).

Credit: NASA/Jeanette Kazmierczak

Alt text: A group of people stand in front of a large vehicle carrying a telescope.

Image description: Nine people in reflective vests and hard hats stand in front of a large vehicle carrying a shiny silver telescope. The group has five on the left and four on the right, so the bottom part of the telescope is visible between them. The telescope has a conical top, with a section cut out for a cylinder, which is the telescope tube. The body is boxy and has rectangular panels attached to the bottom. The vehicle holding it has a long arm that extends forward. The sky in the background is dark.

Big Bill, shown here carrying EXCITE, is a special vehicle designed to launch scientific balloons.

Credit: NASA/Sophia Roberts

Alt text: A large vehicle hoists a telescope.

Image description: Under a dark sky, a large white vehicle with two enormous front tires uses a long arm to lift a shiny silver telescope. The arm extends along and in front of the vehicle, toward the left of the image. The words “Big Bill” are written along the side of the vehicle, under a cab for the driver. The top of the telescope is conical, with a section cut out for a cylinder. The body is rhombus-shaped and has two shiny rectangular panels attached to the bottom that extend slightly in front of the telescope. Two people in hard hats stand near the telescope, and another stands further away, on the left side of the image. A large white hanger with red letters spelling “NASA” on the side is in the background.

Once Big Bill is in position, the CSBF team rolls out a drop cloth for the scientific balloon to protect it from damage — the balloon material is about as thick as the material of a sandwich bag.

Credit: NASA/Jeanette Kazmierczak

Alt text: A large vehicle hoists a telescope.

Image description: A large white vehicle with two enormous front tires uses a long arm to lift a shiny silver telescope. The arm extends along and in front of the vehicle. The top of the telescope is conical, with a section cut out for a cylinder. The body is rhombus-shaped and has two shiny rectangular panels attached to the bottom that extend slightly in front of the telescope. A long white drop cloth extends from behind the vehicle into the distance. People in reflective vests and hard hats stand along the length of the cloth. The dawn sky is just beginning to brighten.

Klangboonkrong, Romualdez, and Rehm look on as the CSBF team fill’s EXCITE’s 39-million-cubic-foot scientific balloon with helium, which took about an hour.

Credit: NASA/Jeanette Kazmierczak

Alt text: Three people wait while a scientific balloon inflates in the background.

Image description: Two men in reflective vests stand and watch a large balloon inflating in the distance. The man on the right wears a baseball cap and turns to look at the other man. The balloon is framed in between them. To their right, a woman in glasses and a reflective vest sits with her legs crossed on the ground. She’s looking up at the men. The sky is golden, with a thin layer of clouds near the top of the image.

Watch the launch of the scientific balloon carrying EXCITE.

Credit: NASA/Sophia Roberts

Video description: A large balloon lifts from the ground with a loud rippling noise. The camera follows it as it launches into a partly cloudy sky just after dawn. The video then cuts to a large vehicle reversing to release a shiny silver telescope at the other end of the balloon’s long cable. The video cuts to another shot of the balloon and telescope rising into the sky. An unseen crowd claps and cheers.

After launch, the EXCITE team monitored and operated the telescope from the ground. Klangboonkrong faces the camera. Facing away, from left to right, are Rehm, Romualdez, and Maher.

Credit: NASA/Sophia Roberts

Alt text: Four people sit in front of computers in the corner of a hangar.

Image description: Three people sit at a collection of tables in the corner of a hangar, looking at computer screens. In the background, three men in blue shirts sit at a table along a wall. Their backs are to the camera. A woman in a blue shirt faces the camera and sits at another table. She has a notebook in front of her. The tables are cluttered with snacks, equipment, safety gear, sloth plushies, and other odds and ends.

EXCITE landed safely by parachute south of Holbrook, Arizona, on the side of a steep. hill.

Credit: NASA/Kyle Helson

Alt text: A telescope lists to the right on the side of steep hill.

Image description: A shiny silver telescope lists to the right on the side of a steep hill. The telescope is centered in the image and is surrounded by short shrubby trees interspersed with patches of brown earth. In the distance, more hills and valleys are visible.

The balloon facility's Daniel Seegmiller and Tyler Barnard helped protect the telescope with a tarp while the team waited for a helicopter to remove it from its landing spot.

Credit: NASA/Kyle Helson

Alt text: Two men examine a large telescope.

Image description: Two men examine a large shiny silver telescope. The telescope is listing slightly to the left on the side of a steep hill. It has a slightly oblong rhombus shape. The men stand to the right of the telescope. The man on the left wears jeans, a long-sleeved black shirt and a black baseball cap. He has his hands on his hips. The man on the right wears jeans, a green T-shirt and a blue baseball cap. He points at the telescope. The landscape is full of small, shrub-like bushes and trees interspersed with patches of brown dirt. The background reveals the telescope is in a valley, with a partly cloudy sky peaking over the top of the line of the hill.

Watch a helicopter carry EXCITE out of a remote area after a scientific balloon flight.

Credit: NASA/Daniel Seegmiller

Video description: This video shows a landscape dominated by scrubby vegetation with a few tall pine trees. A helicopter is audible, but not visible for the first second. Then the camera zooms in to show it. It’s white and carries a telescope at the end of a long cable.

This image shows the curvature of the Earth from 130,000 feet. It was taken remotely by a camera on EXCITE. The red blob at the top of the frame is the parachute.

Credit: NASA/Kyle Helson

Alt text: A glimpse of the curvature of the Earth from EXCITE.

Image description: In this photograph, Earth’s curvature dominates the frame. It’s on the right side, and the sky is streaked with blue clouds. The black of space is on the left. The camera sits in between two shiny silver structures visible in the foreground. The top one on the left is boxy. The one on the bottom is a mostly flat surface. A red blob appears at the top of the image.