BARREL

A crane lowers two BARREL balloon payloads onto the platform at Halley Research Station in Antarctica
A balloon begins to rise over the brand new Halley VI Research Station, which had its grand opening in February 2013

Balloon Array for Radiation-belt Relativistic Electron Losses (BARREL, sometimes called Balloon Array for RBSP Relativistic Electron Losses) was a NASA mission operated out of Dartmouth College that worked with the Van Allen Probes mission (formerly known as the Radiation Belt Storm Probes, or RBSP, mission).[1] The BARREL project launched a series of high-altitude balloons during four science campaigns: January–February 2013 in Antarctica, December 2013–February 2014 in Antarctica, August 2015 in Sweden, and August 2016 in Sweden. Unlike the football-field-sized balloons typically launched at the Poles, these were each just 27 meters (90 ft) in diameter.[2]

The last balloon was launched August 30, 2016. During the BARREL program, a total of 45 balloon payloads were built, and eight test flights and 55 science flights were carried out.[3]

  1. ^ "Van Allen Probes: NASA Renames Radiation Belt Mission to Honor Pioneering Scientist". Science Daily. Reuters. 11 November 2012. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference launchingballoons was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Scientific Ballooners Wrap up 4th, Final Campaign". 16 September 2016.