WEBVTT FILE 1 00:00:00.100 --> 00:00:01.901 Hi, Chris. Thank you so much for joining us. 2 00:00:01.901 --> 00:00:03.036 Thank you for having me. 3 00:00:03.036 --> 00:00:06.039 So you're part of NASA's Balloon Program. 4 00:00:06.272 --> 00:00:09.676 What is the difference between a NASA Scientific Balloon versus 5 00:00:09.676 --> 00:00:11.077 a regular hot air balloon? 6 00:00:11.244 --> 00:00:12.112 Good question. 7 00:00:12.112 --> 00:00:16.516 So, hot air balloons are air filled and the air is heated 8 00:00:16.583 --> 00:00:19.386 to create the buoyancy of the lift that gives them flight. 9 00:00:19.386 --> 00:00:21.688 Generally, they float at a couple thousand feet 10 00:00:21.688 --> 00:00:23.990 and they go up and down in a matter of hours. 11 00:00:23.990 --> 00:00:27.260 Scientific Balloons, on the other hand, are quite different. 12 00:00:27.260 --> 00:00:31.598 So, our largest balloons can fit a football field inside their equator, 13 00:00:31.598 --> 00:00:33.333 and they can fly for much longer. 14 00:00:33.333 --> 00:00:36.202 So, payload capacity is about 8,000 pounds - 15 00:00:36.202 --> 00:00:40.373 several SUVs. The duration can be up to five 16 00:00:40.373 --> 00:00:44.644 or six weeks at a time, and the altitudes can be up to 160,000 feet, 17 00:00:44.644 --> 00:00:47.747 about four or five times the height of a commercial airliner. 18 00:00:48.181 --> 00:00:49.282 Wow. What a difference. 19 00:00:49.282 --> 00:00:50.784 Yeah, that's incredible. 20 00:00:50.784 --> 00:00:52.585 And you launch all over the globe. 21 00:00:52.585 --> 00:00:54.087 So you launch from New Mexico 22 00:00:54.087 --> 00:00:57.957 in the US, New Zealand, and even McMurdo Station in Antarctica. 23 00:00:58.291 --> 00:01:00.226 Why do you launch from all those different places? 24 00:01:00.226 --> 00:01:03.096 In short, we go where the science needs us to go. 25 00:01:03.096 --> 00:01:06.099 Some scientists need northern hemisphere. 26 00:01:06.232 --> 00:01:08.968 Science for galaxies and star formations. 27 00:01:08.968 --> 00:01:10.270 That's why we go to Sweden. 28 00:01:10.270 --> 00:01:11.938 Same thing in the southern hemisphere. 29 00:01:11.938 --> 00:01:13.640 That's why we go to Antarctica. 30 00:01:13.640 --> 00:01:16.943 Most missions need some kind of trial or test system, 31 00:01:17.210 --> 00:01:20.747 so they'll fly from New Mexico to prove their science or 32 00:01:20.980 --> 00:01:23.116 or even just collect science at a shorter duration. 33 00:01:23.116 --> 00:01:25.652 And then for missions that are a little more risky, 34 00:01:25.652 --> 00:01:27.353 we'll go out to PMRF in Hawaii. 35 00:01:27.353 --> 00:01:29.522 So can you describe to me what launch days like? 36 00:01:29.689 --> 00:01:31.157 it's an incredible feeling. Right? 37 00:01:31.157 --> 00:01:33.159 So, you see the balloon be released. 38 00:01:33.159 --> 00:01:36.262 You hear the rustle of fabric and the rush of the wind 39 00:01:36.262 --> 00:01:39.132 as it stands up. You see the balloon be released 40 00:01:39.132 --> 00:01:40.667 from the vehicle and ascend. 41 00:01:40.667 --> 00:01:43.336 And it's just - it just gives you chills every time you watch it. 42 00:01:43.336 --> 00:01:45.171 It's a really great feeling. 43 00:01:45.171 --> 00:01:46.272 That sounds incredible. 44 00:01:46.272 --> 00:01:50.410 So how many of these balloon experiments have been Sun focused or eclipse focused? 45 00:01:50.810 --> 00:01:54.747 So, about 8 to 10% of our portfolio is heliophysics missions. 46 00:01:55.281 --> 00:01:57.884 One of the ones that stands out in my mind is one 47 00:01:57.884 --> 00:02:00.887 I got to see launch in 2019 from New Mexico. 48 00:02:01.187 --> 00:02:02.255 It's called The BITSE Mission, 49 00:02:02.255 --> 00:02:06.159 and it was looking at the corona, or the kind of the outer edge of the Sun, 50 00:02:06.459 --> 00:02:08.761 and looking at how that behaves under different conditions. 51 00:02:08.761 --> 00:02:09.929 That sounds amazing. 52 00:02:09.929 --> 00:02:11.164 Thank you so much for joining us. 53 00:02:11.164 --> 00:02:12.332 Thanks again for having me.