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.