Abstract In the early 1980's the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Balloon Program was faced with a problem of catastrophic balloon failures. In 1986 a balloon recovery program was initiated. This program included qualification of new balloon films, and investigations into materials, processing, structures and performance of balloons. This recovery program has been very successful. To date, more than 100 balloons manufactured of newly developed films have been flown with unprecedented success. There has been much progress made across the spectrum of balloon related disciplines. A new design philosophy has been developed and is being used for all NASA balloons. An updated balloon reliability and quality assurance program is in effect. The long duration balloon development project has been initiated with the first flight test having been conducted in December 1989 from Antarctica. A comprehensive research and development (R&D) effort has been initiated and is progressing well. The progress, status and future plans for these and other aspects of the NASA program, along with a description of the comprehensive balloon R&D activity, will be presented.


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    Title :

    Status of the NASA Balloon Program


    Contributors:
    Needleman, H.C. (author) / Nock, R.S. (author) / Bawcom, D.W. (author)

    Published in:

    Publication date :

    1992-01-01


    Size :

    8 pages




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English



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