Balloon 'terminated' by NASA after

Balloon 'terminated' by NASA after leak

NASA said the flight began at the end of March from the Wanaka Airport in New Zealand.

A NASA statement said the pumpkin-shaped balloon was made from 22 acres of material and was as large as a football stadium when fully inflated.

NASA's balloon program chief Debbie Fairbrother said the balloon flew for 32 days, its most demanding test yet.

"The balloon accomplished what no other heavy lift balloon has done by maintaining a constant float altitude for a long duration in the harsh conditions of the Earth's stratosphere," she said.

Officials will investigate the cause of the leak and apply any lessons learned to future balloon missions.

NASA's scientific balloons can fly payloads weighing up to 3,600 kilograms for conducting scientific investigations in fields such as astrophysics and atmospheric research.

Massive deflated NASA scientific balloon on ground near Thargomindah in south-west Queensland
PHOTO: The pumpkin-shaped balloon is made from 22 acres of material and is as large as a football stadium when fully inflated. (Audience submitted: Marianne McCarthy)
Workers from a remote cattle station more than 700 kilometres south of Longreach found the balloon.

Marianne McCarthy, from Bulloo Downs station near Thargomindah, was among the group who went looking for it yesterday.

I don't know how [NASA] are going to get it out of there, because it sort of is in the middle of sand hills in the middle of nowhere - that will be the next exciting part.
Marianne McCarthy from Bulloo Downs station
She said they had been given some GPS readings from an astronomer who had been tracking it.

"There was a big white box, probably the size of a cold room I guess, and cameras, and bits and pieces hanging off it," she said.

"About 250 or 300 metres away, there was a big orange and white - almost like a parachute I guess - material and a whole heap of cables.

"We found a heap of plastic, sort of 10 kilometres from it - so I am wondering if that has got something to do it with it.

"I thought maybe the balloon disintegrated, and the orange and white thing we found, maybe that was the material to bring it down - I am not sure - but there is a lot of plastic lying around."

Visions of something 'the size of Suncorp Stadium'

Ms McCarthy said there was a lot of interest in the balloon on the station.

"It was pretty unique - it had the station buzzing anyway for a few hours, trying to find this big mystery balloon, and I had visions driving over a sand hill and seeing something silver and the size of Suncorp stadium laying out on the flat.

Strings of NASA scientific balloon in the foreground stretching back to its white payload bucket, seen on the horizon.
PHOTO: Strings from the NASA scientific balloon and debris in the foreground, stretching back to its white payload bucket, on the horizon. (Audience submitted: Marianne McCarthy)
"But we saw the white box - we didn't even see the parachute or the balloon part of it until we were right up on it."

Ms McCarthy said plenty of people saw the balloon during its flight, but she missed it.

"The cook was down fishing early one morning and she had seen it, and a lot of the neighbours had seen it," she said.

"She just thought it was a weather balloon or something - she just said it was a big silver ball.

"I would say [NASA] will want to come and recover it at some point - I don't know how they are going to get it out of there, because it sort of is in the middle of sand hills in the middle of nowhere.

"That will be the next exciting part - they will need a grader or something to get in there to get to it."

Super pressure balloon just before launch from Wanaka Airport in New Zealand on March 27, 2015
PHOTO: NASA's super pressure balloon just before launch from Wanaka Airport in New Zealand on March 27, 2015.