April 22 Launch Attempt Scheduled for NASA Balloon

April 22 Launch Attempt Scheduled for NASA Super Pressure Balloon

NASA is targeting Saturday, April 22 (Friday, April 21 in U.S. Eastern Time (EDT)), to conduct a super pressure balloon (SPB) test flight launching from Wanaka Airport, New Zealand, on a potential 100-day journey.

NASA will begin flight preparations in the early morning hours Saturday and will continue to evaluate real-time and forecast weather conditions throughout the morning. If weather is conducive for launch, lift-off is scheduled between 8 and 11:30 a.m. locally (between 4 and 7:30 p.m. EDT Friday, April 21).

This is the seventh scheduled launch attempt for NASA's 2017 Wanaka Balloon Campaign. A sixth attempt April 21 ended due to high surface level winds that would not support moving forward with a launch attempt.

Launch Viewing Information

Wanaka Airport officials advise that local residents and visitors will have the best vantage points for the launch from:
The Hawea Flat side of the Clutha River
Atop Mount Iron
On the hill on the Hawea side of the Red Bridge by Kane Rd.

The launch can be tracked in the following ways:

A live feed of the launch is available here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-csbf-downrange-operations
Track the progress of the flight at the following link, which includes a map showing the balloon’s real-time location, at: http://www.csbf.nasa.gov/newzealand/wanaka.htm
For mission status updates follow NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility social media accounts: www.facebook.com/NASAWFF and www.twitter.com/NASA_Wallops
For launch updates follow on Wanaka Airport’s Facebook page www.facebook.com/WanakaAirport
For the live broadcast from Wanaka Airport tune in to Radio Wanaka 92.2 FM

Super Pressure Balloon Facts

Volume of the balloon when fully inflated: 532,379 cubic meters (18.8 million cubic feet); about the size of a football stadium
Diameter of the balloon when fully inflated: 114.5 meters (376 feet)
Height when fully inflated: 68.96 meters (233 feet)
Altitude at float: 33.5 kilometers (110,000 feet)
Amount of balloon film used to make the balloon (the film is polyethylene—the same material used in sandwich bags, though our film is much stronger and more durable): 8.9 hectares (22 acres)
The weight of the balloon combined with the suspended weight (gondola, flight train, and parachute) is: 4,909 kilograms (10,821 pounds); separately, the balloon weighs 2,414 kilograms (5,321 pounds) and the total suspended weight is 2,495 kilograms (5,500 pounds)

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