Giant balloon flying high over Atlantic tocatch cosmic rays21 May 2009

This picture shows the high-altitude balloon fullyexpanded to a diameter of 459 feet. The red immediatelybelow the balloon is the parachute. The LEE payload ofcosmic ray detectors is at the bottom of the chuteshrouds. This photo was taken through a telescope byDrew Denney, NASA Columbia Scientific BalloonFacility.

(PhysOrg.com) -- University of Delawareresearchers in Sweden have launched a giantballoon taller than a football field that is now flyingat the edge of space to collect data on cosmic rays-- the most super-charged particles in the universe.

The balloon, which is 396 feet tall and 459 feet indiameter when fully inflated, was set aloft at 4:34a.m. on May 17 from Esrange Space Center nearKiruna, Sweden, in the Arctic Circle. It is flying at aspeed of more than 40 knots and an altitude ofnearly 27 miles. Its payload of cosmic raydetectors, housed in a pressurized shell, will be cutfree in northwestern Canada and float back downto Earth on a parachute, and then secured andrecovered, likely by helicopter.

Cosmic rays are extraterrestrial high-energyelectrons, protons, and heavier nuclei that enterour atmosphere.

“The bulk of cosmic rays are likely produced by

strong shock waves from Supernova explosionswithin our galaxy,” said John Clem, researchassociate professor of physics and astronomy atthe University of Delaware's Bartol ResearchInstitute. “It is well documented that these high-energy particles can threaten the health ofastronauts in space and expose airline workers toradiation,” Clem noted.

Launch of high-altitude balloon carrying cosmic raydetectors over Kiruna, Sweden, May 17, 2009. Theballoon is made of a polyethylene film (the same materialused to make trash bags) and weighs 4,150 poundswithout its payload. Photo by James Roth/University ofDelaware

With support from a $961,710 grant from NASA,Clem is leading a research team from UD andNASA's Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility inPalestine, Texas, to learn more about cosmic rays.The effort entails launching two helium-filled high-altitude balloons -- one to carry the “Low EnergyElectrons” (LEE) instrument payload, which is nowafloat, and one to carry the “Anti-Electron Sub-Orbital Payload” (AESOP), which will be in flight onMay 23 and travel to the upper limits of the

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atmosphere.

Clem says about a thousand cosmic rays strikeevery square meter of Earth's atmosphere eachsecond, depending somewhat on the location. Thedata from the balloon flights will be used to studysolar modulation, the variation in cosmic rayintensity that is correlated with solar activity.

AESOP can detect electrons with energies up toabout 10 gigaelectron volts, according to Clem. Theinstrument utilizes a system of different radiationdetectors and a magnetic spectrometer to identifythe particle's electric charge, energy, and mass.The major component in the magnetic spectrometeris the spark chamber.

AESOP's chambers contain five parallel aluminumplates connected, in alternate order, to ground anda high-voltage pulser. The medium between theplates is a slow-moving mixture of neon andhelium. As a charged particle passes through achamber, it leaves behind an ion trail in the gas. Inthe presence of a high electric field, the ions in thegas are accelerated toward the plate surface,resulting in a bright red vertical spark, which isdigitized and recorded by a linear charge-coupleddevice (CCD) camera.

According to Clem, the level of solar activity risesand falls over a period of approximately 11 yearsand influences cosmic ray intensity. As solaractivity rises, cosmic ray activity decreases.Currently, solar activity is low, and we are in aperiod of high cosmic ray intensity, Clem said.

“We're working to better understand how the sun'schanging magnetic field affects cosmic raypropagation through the solar system,” Clemnoted.

More information: You can follow the flight's pathonline.

Provided by University of Delaware (news : web)

APA citation: Giant balloon flying high over Atlantic to catch cosmic rays (2009, May 21) retrieved 17February 2019 from https://phys.org/news/2009-05-giant-balloon-high-atlantic-cosmic.html

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