I’m saddened to report that the COSI/SPB balloon flight was terminated much earlier than expected. The balloon developed a leak after the first day at float and we decided to increase the chances of instrument recovery this season instead of continuing operations for as long as the balloon maintained altitude. The payload had a smooth landing at about 6:15 am this morning and is currently sitting 350 miles from McMurdo at an elevation of 8000 ft. Hopefully we’ll be able to get out there within the week to recover the hard drives and detectors and whatever else will fit in the plane.
Thank you to everyone who followed the campaign, your positive words were encouraging and inspiring. Thank you to NASA and the SPB program, it was an honour to be able to be the first science flight on this generation of super pressure balloons, too bad we couldn’t kick that 55-day-record’s butt. A huge thanks goes out to all of CSBF, the support you’ve shown us and our science team over the past months has been amazing and your handle on the launch and termination was precise and professional. Here’s to another COSI launch in the super near future!
So sorry to hear this news–a terrible break, indeed. You guys should be very proud of your success in getting a new instrument developed and deployed. We’ll look forward to seeing COSI flying again soon!
I want to second what Eric said. What a tremendous job you all have done, even if everything didn’t meet expectations. Best of luck with the recovery and have a safe journey home!
I want to second what Eric said. What a tremendous job you all have done, even if everything didn’t meet expectations. Best of luck with the recovery and have a safe journey home!
Sorry to hear it came down so very early, but congratulations on getting it up there in working order in the first place! Is it known what caused the leak? Here’s to many more COSI launches in the future.
Sorry to hear it came down so very early, but congratulations on getting it up there in working order in the first place! Is it known what caused the leak? Here’s to many more COSI launches in the future.
It was a great launch and you all did a fantastic job. It was fun watching views from the on board camera. I’m very sorry about the balloon leak and early termination, but hopefully you received enough data to determine if the detectors were doing their job as designed. You mentioned recovering the hard drives and detectors, but I was hoping you could recover the whole gondola. Isn’t it small enough to just pick up with a helicopter?
It was a great launch and you all did a fantastic job. It was fun watching views from the on board camera. I’m very sorry about the balloon leak and early termination, but hopefully you received enough data to determine if the detectors were doing their job as designed. You mentioned recovering the hard drives and detectors, but I was hoping you could recover the whole gondola. Isn’t it small enough to just pick up with a helicopter?
I am so sorry about this outcome….
you guys are awesome and i miss you. hope to hear about the next cosi flight asap <3 katie
you guys are awesome and i miss you. hope to hear about the next cosi flight asap <3 katie