Scientific balloon.
No, we're not decorating for a party,
but scientific balloons can be just as fun.
These balloons are huge.
Some are wider than a football field, and they offer another often cheaper way
besides rockets and planes to carry scientific instruments.
Scientific balloons can fly higher than 100,000 feet,
giving us a clear view of space above Earth's atmosphere,
which allows us to look out into the universe.
Instruments flying on NASA's balloons often study things like cosmic rays
and dark matter. Balloons also provide a way to test scientific instruments
before they go on a larger space missions like space telescopes.
NASA flies a couple of kinds of scientific balloons.
Some are open at the end, like hot air balloons.
Another kind known, as super pressure
balloons, are completely sealed, so no gases can escape.
Super pressure balloons can stay aloft for several weeks and circle the globe.
Wallops manages NASA's scientific balloons program,
launching balloons from around the world to study our universe.