Research balloons are
balloon
A balloon is a flexible bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, and air. For special tasks, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), or light so ...
s that are used for scientific research. They are usually unmanned, filled with a lighter-than-air gas like
helium
Helium (from el, ἥλιος, helios, lit=sun) is a chemical element with the symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. ...
, and fly at
high altitudes.
Meteorology, atmospheric research, astronomy, and military research may be conducted from a research balloon.
Weather balloons are a type of research balloon. Research balloons usually study a single aspect of science, such as air pollution, air temperature, or wind currents, although sometimes several experiments or equipment are flown together.
Other than weather balloons, few research balloons are launched every year. This is driven by the large cost of the balloon, the instrument, which is usually custom made, and the cost of the launch. Because of the altitude reached by most research balloons, the air is too thin and too cold for humans to survive, therefore most research balloons are unmanned and operated remotely. There have been some balloons equipped with pressurized cabins, beginning with professor
Auguste Piccard in the 1930s.
Research balloons are not only used on earth. With the help of a research balloon, the upper atmosphere of Venus was examined by the
Vega program
The Vega program (Cyrillic: ВеГа) was a series of Venus missions that also took advantage of the appearance of comet 1P/Halley in 1986. ''Vega 1'' and '' Vega 2'' were uncrewed spacecraft launched in a cooperative effort among the Soviet ...
.
See also
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High-altitude balloon
High-altitude balloons are crewed or uncrewed balloons, usually filled with helium or hydrogen, that are released into the stratosphere, generally attaining between above sea level. In 2002, a balloon named BU60-1 reached a record altitude of .
...
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Google Balloon Internet
*
Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility
The Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility (CSBF) (established in
1961, formerly known as the National Scientific Balloon Facility
(NSBF)) is a NASA facility responsible for providing launch, tracking and control, airspace coordination, telemetry ...
External links
{{Commons, Research balloon
StratoCat - Stratospheric balloons. History and present of their use in the fields of science, military and aerospace
Balloons (aeronautics)
Atmospheric sciences