Prototype design and testing of a Venus long duration,high altitude balloon

This paper describes the design, fabrication and testing of a full scale prototype balloon intended for long duration flight in the upper atmosphere of Venus. The balloon is 5.5 m in diameter and is designed to carry a 45 kg payload at an altitude of 55 km. The balloon material is a 180 g/m² multi-component laminate comprised of the following layers bonded together from outside to inside: aluminized Teflon film, aluminized Mylar film, Vectran fabric and a polyurethane coating. This construction provides the required balloon functional characteristics of low gas permeability, sulfuric acid resistance and high strength for superpressure operation. The design burst superpressure is 39,200 Pa which is predicted to be 3.3 times the worst case value expected during flight at the highest solar irradiance in the mission profile. The prototype is constructed from 16 gores with bi-taped seams employing a sulfuric acid resistant adhesive on the outside. Material coupon tests were performed to evaluate the optical and mechanical characteristics of the laminate. These were followed by full prototype tests for inflation, leakage and sulfuric acid tolerance. The results confirmed the suitability of this balloon design for use at Venus in a long duration mission. The various data are presented and the implications for mission design and operation are discussed.     

Technology development for a long duration,mid-cloud level Venus balloon

This paper describes the results of ongoing technology development activities for a Venus spherical superpressure balloon capable of flying for long durations (30 days) in the middle cloud layer at an altitude of 55.5 km. Data is presented from a successful aerial deployment and inflation flight experiment on a 5.5 m diameter prototype balloon conducted at a 2.5 km altitude above the Earth. Although the balloon in that test was not released for free flight, all other steps in the deployment and inflation process were successfully executed. Experimental and computational results are also presented from an investigation of the stress concentration phenomenon at the junction of the metal end fitting and fabric end cap of the prototype Venus balloon. Good agreement was found between the simulation and experimental results and a stress concentration factor of 1.55 determined for this end cap design compared to the expectations of thin membrane theory. Finally, results are presented for a new, second-generation Venus balloon material utilizing Aclar™ film instead of Teflon. Optical property and sulfuric acid tolerance data are presented for this material based on laboratory testing of samples.     

Development overview of the revised NASA Ultra Long Duration Balloon

The desire for longer duration stratospheric flights at constant float altitudes for heavy payloads has been the focus of the development of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Ultra Long Duration Balloon (ULDB) effort. Recent efforts have focused on ground testing and analysis to understand the previously observed issue of balloon deployment. A revised approach to the pumpkin balloon design has been tested through ground testing of model balloons and through two test flights. The design approach does not require foreshortening, and will significantly reduce the balloon handling during manufacture reducing the chances of inducing damage to the envelope. Successful ground testing of model balloons lead to the fabrication and test flight of a ∼176,000 m³ (∼6.2 MCF – Million Cubic Foot) balloon. Pre-flight analytical predictions predicted that the proposed flight balloon design to be stable and should fully deploy. This paper provides an overview of this first test flight of the revised Ultra Long Duration Balloon design which was a short domestic test flight from Ft. Sumner, NM, USA. This balloon fully deployed, but developed a leak under pressurization. After an extensive investigation to the cause of the leak, a second test flight balloon was fabricated. This ∼176,000 m³ (∼6.2 MCF) balloon was flown from Kiruna, Sweden in June of 2006. Flight results for both test flights, including flight performance are presented.     

A gas management system for an ultra long duration Titan blimp

This paper presents analyses, designs and experimental results for the gas management system of a hydrogen-filled blimp capable of flying in the lower atmosphere of Titan for a period of 1 year or more. The engineering strategy has two basic elements: first, to minimize leakage rates from the blimp envelope and ballonets; and second, to provide auxiliary subsystems to mitigate the life-limiting effects resulting from those leaks. Leak minimization is achieved through use of cryogenically compatible balloon materials and adhesives, and selection of ballonet geometries that minimize pinhole generation via folding and material fatigue. Hydrogen loss to the environment through leaks in the blimp envelope is compensated by producing new hydrogen through chemical processing of atmospheric methane. Nitrogen leaked into the blimp from the ballonets is removed by a carbon absorption system and periodically vented to the atmosphere. Data is presented on the measured leak rate from a full scale (13 m long) prototype blimp envelope and on the performance of a low mass, low power prototype device that generates hydrogen from methane. These results are factored in to an overall system design that quantifies the mass and power requirements for a minimum 1 year operational lifetime.     

Experimental results for Titan aerobot thermo-mechanical subsystem development

This paper describes experimental results from a development program focused on maturing Titan aerobot technology in the areas of mechanical and thermal subsystems. Results from four key activities are described: first, a cryogenic balloon materials development program involving coupon and cylinder tests and culminating in the fabrication and testing of an inflated 4.6 m long prototype blimp at 93 K; second, a combined lab experiment and numerical simulation effort to assess potential problems resulting from radioisotope power source waste heat generation near an inflated blimp; third, an aerial deployment and inflation development program consisting of laboratory and helicopter drop tests on a near full scale (11 m long) prototype blimp; and fourth, a proof of concept experiment demonstrating the viability of using a mechanically steerable high gain antenna on a floating blimp to perform direct to Earth telecommunications from Titan. The paper provides details on all of these successful activities and discusses their impact on the overall effort to produce mature systems technology for future Titan aerobot missions.     

Development of a super-pressure balloon with a diamond-shaped net

The essential reason of the lobed-pumpkin shaped super-pressure balloon to withstand against the high pressure is that the local curvature of the balloon film is kept small. Recently, it has been found that the small local curvature can also be obtained if the balloon is covered by a diamond-shaped net with a vertically elongated shape. The development of the super-pressure balloon using this method was started from a 3-m balloon with a polyethylene film covered by a net using Kevlar ropes. The ground inflation test showed the expected high burst pressure. Then, a 6-m and a 12-m balloon using a polyethylene film and a net using the Vectran were developed and stable deployment was checked through the ground inflation tests. The flight test of a 3000 m³ balloon was performed in 2013 and shown to resist a pressure of at least 400 Pa. In the future, after testing a new design to relax a possible stress concentration around the polar area, test flights of scaled balloons will be performed gradually enlarging their size. The goal is to launch a 300,000 m³ super-pressure balloon.     

A challenge to the highest balloon altitude

Development of a balloon to fly at higher altitudes is one of the most attractive challenges for scientific balloon technologies. After reaching the highest balloon altitude of 53.0 km using the 3.4 μm film in 2002, a thinner balloon film with a thickness of 2.8 μm was developed. A 5000 m³ balloon made with this film was launched successfully in 2004. However, three 60,000 m³ balloons with the same film launched in 2005, 2006, and 2007, failed during ascent. The mechanical properties of the 2.8 μm film were investigated intensively to look for degradation of the ultimate strength and its elongation as compared to the other thicker balloon films. The requirement of the balloon film was also studied using an empirical and a physical model assuming an axis-symmetrical balloon shape and the static pressure. It was found that the film was strong enough. A stress due to the dynamic pressure by the wind shear is considered as the possible reason for the unsuccessful flights. A 80,000 m³ balloon with cap films covering 9 m from the balloon top will be launch in 2011 to test the appropriateness of this reinforcement.     

Development of an improved ground-based prototype of space plant-growing facility

Based on a formerly developed ground-based prototype of space plant-growing facility, the development of its improved prototype has been finished, so as to make its operating principle better adapt to the space microgravity environment. According to the developing experience of its first generation prototype and detailed demonstration and design of technique plan, its blueprint design and machining of related components, whole facility installment, debugging and trial operations were all done gradually. Its growing chamber contains a volume of about 0.5 m³ and a growing area of approximate 0.5 m²; the atmospheric environmental parameters in the growing chamber and water content in the growing media were controlled totally and effectively; lighting source is a combination of both red and blue light emitting diodes (LED). The following demonstrating results showed that the entire system design of the prototype is reasonable and its operating principle can nearly meet the requirements of space microgravity environment. Therefore, our plant-growing technique in space was advanced further, which laid an important foundation for next development of the space plant-growing facility and plant-cultivating experimental research in space microgravity condition.     

Evolution of scientific ballooning and its impact on astrophysics research

As we celebrate the centennial year of the discovery of cosmic rays on a manned balloon, it seems appropriate to reflect on the evolution of ballooning and its scientific impact. Balloons have been used for scientific research since they were invented in France more than 200 years ago. Ballooning was revolutionized in 1950 with the introduction of the so-called natural shape balloon with integral load tapes. This basic design has been used with more or less continuously improved materials for scientific balloon flights for more than a half century, including long-duration balloon (LDB) flights around Antarctica for the past two decades. The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is currently developing the next generation super-pressure balloon that would enable extended duration missions above 99.5% of the Earth’s atmosphere at any latitude. The Astro2010 Decadal Survey report supports super-pressure balloon development and the giant step forward it offers with ultra-long-duration balloon (ULDB) flights at constant altitudes for about 100 days.     

A neutral gas mass spectrometer to measure the chemical composition of the stratosphere

The Polar Balloon Atmospheric Composition Experiment (P-BACE) is a new generation of neutral gas mass spectrometer based on the time-of-flight principle. P-BACE is the scientific experiment on the Mars Environment Analog Platform (MEAP) flown successfully on a balloon mission in summer 2008. The MEAP mission was flown with a 334,000 m³ helium balloon in the stratosphere on a semicircular trajectory from northern Sweden around the North Pole to Canada using the summer northern hemispheric wind current. The atmospheric conditions at an atmospheric altitude of 35–40 km are remarkably similar to those on the surface of Mars and thus the balloon mission was an ideal testbed for our mass spectrometer P-BACE. Originally this instrument was designed for in situ measurements of the chemical composition of the Martian atmosphere.P-BACE has a unique mass range from 0 to 1000 amu/q with a mass resolution m/Δm (FWHM) > 1000, and the dynamic range is at least six orders of magnitude. During this experiment, the acquisition of one mass spectrum is a sum of 65,535 single spectra, recorded in a time frame of 66 s.The balloon mission lasted 5 days and had successfully demonstrated the functionality of the P-BACE instrument during flight conditions. We had recorded more than 4500 mass spectra. With little modifications, P-BACE can be used on a planetary mission for Mars, but for example also for Venus or Mercury, if placed on a satellite.     

Characteristics and performance of thin LaBr3(Ce) crystal for hard X-ray astronomy

We have developed a new detector using thin lanthanum bromide crystal (32 × 3 mm) for use in X-ray astronomy. The instrument was launched in high altitude balloon flight on two different occasions, December 21, 2007, which reached a ceiling altitude of 4.3 mbs and April 25, 2008 reaching a ceiling altitude 2.8 mbs. The observed background counting rate at the ceiling altitude of 4 mbs was ∼4 × 10⁻³ ct cm⁻² s⁻¹ keV⁻¹ sr⁻¹. This paper describes the details of the experiment, the detector characteristics, and the background behaviour at the ceiling altitude.     

Measurement of cosmic ray elemental composition from the CAKE balloon experiment

CAKE (Cosmic Abundances below Knee Energies) was a prototype balloon experiment for the determination of the charge spectra and abundances of the primary cosmic rays (CR) with Z > 10. It was a passive instrument made of layers of CR39® and Lexan®/Makrofol® nuclear track detectors; it had a geometric acceptance of ∼0.7 m² sr for Fe nuclei. Here, the scanning and analysis strategies, the algorithms used for the off-line filtering and for the tracking in automated mode of the primary cosmic rays are presented, together with the resulting CR charge distribution and their abundances.     

Cosmic Ray Energetics And Mass for the International Space Station (ISS-CREAM)

The Cosmic Ray Energetics And Mass (CREAM) instrument is configured with a suite of particle detectors to measure TeV cosmic-ray elemental spectra from protons to iron nuclei over a wide energy range. The goal is to extend direct measurements of cosmic-ray composition to the highest energies practical, and thereby have enough overlap with ground based indirect measurements to answer questions on cosmic-ray origin, acceleration and propagation. The balloon-borne CREAM was flown successfully for about 161 days in six flights over Antarctica to measure elemental spectra of Z = 1–26 nuclei over the energy range 10¹⁰ to >10¹⁴ eV. Transforming the balloon instrument into ISS-CREAM involves identification and replacement of components that would be at risk in the International Space Station (ISS) environment, in addition to assessing safety and mission assurance concerns. The transformation process includes rigorous testing of components to reduce risks and increase survivability on the launch vehicle and operations on the ISS without negatively impacting the heritage of the successful CREAM design. The project status, including results from the ongoing analysis of existing data and, particularly, plans to increase the exposure factor by another order of magnitude utilizing the International Space Station are presented.     

Hybrid simulations of the O ion escape from Venus: Influence of the solar wind density and the IMF x component

As an initial effort to study the evolution of the Venus atmosphere, the influence of the solar wind density and the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) x component (the x-axis points from Venus towards the Sun) on the O⁺ ion escape rate from Venus is investigated using a three-dimensional quasi-neutral hybrid (HYB-Venus) model. The HYB-Venus model is first applied to a case of the high-density (100 cm⁻³) solar wind interaction with Venus selected from the Pioneer Venus Orbiter observations to demonstrate its capability for the study. Two sets of simulations with a wide range of solar wind densities and different IMF x components are then performed. It is found that the O⁺ ion escape rate increases with increasing solar wind density. The O⁺ ion escape rate saturates when the solar wind density becomes high (above 100 cm⁻³). The results also suggest that the IMF x component enhances the O⁺ ion escape rate, given a fixed IMF component perpendicular to the x-axis. Finally, the results imply a higher ion loss rate for early-Venus, when solar conditions were dramatically different.     

General Relativity Accuracy Test (GReAT): New configuration for the differential accelerometer

We presents the results of an activity concerning the test of the Einstein Weak Equivalence Principle with an accuracy of about 5 × 10⁻¹⁵. The experiment will be performed in an “Einstein elevator” using a differential accelerometer with a final sensitivity of about 10⁻¹⁴ g_⊕/Hz^1/2. The differential accelerometer is spun about an horizontal axis at a frequency in the range 0.5–1 Hz in order to modulate, during the free fall, the signal from a possible violation of the Equivalence Principle. In the paper the perturbing effects with the same signature of the possible violation are analyzed and constrained. The experimental results obtained in the laboratory with a first prototype of the differential accelerometer are discussed, comparing this results with those obtained using a new prototype.     

Venus atmospheric platform options revisited

Various balloon systems intended as scientific platforms to float in the atmosphere of Venus at altitudes between about 35 and 65 km are briefly reviewed. Previous predictions of the altitude oscillations of balloons filled with helium gas and water vapor are largely confirmed through numerical simulation and analysis. The need for refined thermal modelling is emphasised. Several novel technical concepts are introduced. It is concluded that phase change balloons would be more suitable than non-condensing super pressure gas balloons when repeated altitude excursions are a mission requirement.     

An in situ laser induced breakdown spectroscope (LIBS) for Chandrayaan-2 rover: Ablation kinetics and emissivity estimations

A miniaturized in situ laser induced breakdown spectroscope-LIBS is one of the two lunar rover payloads to be flown in India’s next lunar mission Chandrayaan-2, with an objective to carry-out a precise qualitative and quantitative elemental analyses of lunar regolith at the proximity of the landing region. As per the imposed mission constraints and the executed design optimization studies, a compact and light-weight LIBS prototype model is developed at our premises. This paper mainly concerns with the estimation of theoretical aspects; especially on evaluation of elemental ablation parameters and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) calculations for the designed instrument. Theoretical estimations and simulations yielded an incident laser power density of the order of 5 × 10¹⁰ W/cm² on the target surface at a defined lens-to-surface distance (LTSD) of 200 mm and revealed an SNR > 100 for most of the elements under consideration. This paper also addresses the impact of LTSD variation on detection capability. The estimation of plasma-temperatures was carried out utilizing the emission spectra obtained under high vacuum environments employing the LIBS laboratory model. Experimental investigations and the performed theoretical estimations asserted the successful operation of the configured LIBS instrument for in situ elemental analyses on lunar surface.     

The ground-based large-area wide-angle γ-ray and cosmic-ray experiment HiSCORE

The question of the origin of cosmic rays and other questions of astroparticle and particle physics can be addressed with indirect air-shower observations above 10 TeV primary energy. We propose to explore the cosmic ray and γ-ray sky (accelerator sky) in the energy range from 10 TeV to 1 EeV with the new ground-based large-area wide angle (ΔΩ ∼ 0.85 sterad) air-shower detector HiSCORE (Hundred^∗i Square-km Cosmic ORigin Explorer). The HiSCORE detector is based on non-imaging air-shower Cherenkov light-front sampling using an array of light-collecting stations. A full detector simulation and basic reconstruction algorithms have been used to assess the performance of HiSCORE. First prototype studies for different hardware components of the detector array have been carried out. The resulting sensitivity of HiSCORE to γ-rays will be comparable to CTA at 50 TeV and will extend the sensitive energy range for γ-rays up to the PeV regime. HiSCORE will also be sensitive to charged cosmic rays between 100 TeV and 1 EeV.     

Spin rate and spin axis orientation of LARES spectrally determined from Satellite Laser Ranging data

Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) is a powerful technique able to measure spin rate and spin axis orientation of the fully passive, geodetic satellites. This work presents results of the spin determination of LARES – a new satellite for testing General Relativity. 529 SLR passes measured between February 17 and June 9, 2012, were spectrally analyzed. Our results indicate that the initial spin frequency of LARES is f₀ = 86.906 mHz (RMS = 0.539 mHz). A new method for spin axis determination, developed for this analysis, gives orientation of the axis at RA = 12^h22^m48^s (RMS = 49^m), Dec = −70.4° (RMS = 5.2°) (J2000.0 celestial reference frame), and the clockwise (CW) spin direction. The half-life period of the satellite’s spin is 214.924 days and indicates fast slowing down of the spacecraft.