Balloon Science by Dan
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balloonscidan.bsky.social
Balloon Science by Dan
@balloonscidan.bsky.social
25 followers 11 following 160 posts
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balloonscidan.bsky.social
Flight summary, a GHOST balloon from 1969. Typical of the program, 172 days, 3+ orbits of earth.
Balloon engineering log
September 11, 2025 at 3:35 AM
balloonscidan.bsky.social
Filling an early Loon "Ibis" balloon using a crane at Winnemucca, NV airport. Dec 9, 2014
November 25, 2024 at 4:12 AM
balloonscidan.bsky.social
A bad day on the ground. This unfilled, loose balloon has gotten caught in a gust of wind and opened like a spinnaker sail. Note the people running away on the left. The folded balloon was probably neatly on the red strip. Training at Timmins, ON, Canadian Space Agency 2014
January 24, 2025 at 11:59 PM
balloonscidan.bsky.social
Excited to be going to #AGU23 American Geophysical Union conference this week!
January 24, 2025 at 11:59 PM
balloonscidan.bsky.social
A dark little lenticular cloud rides the crest of Alcatraz Island's gravity wave today. The wind coming into the bay from the west (left) is bounced up by hitting the prison island. It's highest is downwind where some vapor condenses and then evaporates as it bounces back down.
January 24, 2025 at 11:59 PM
balloonscidan.bsky.social
Historic balloon design code from 1978 can now be run again! the programs I found were for a CDC mainframe supercomputer in FORTRAN-63 language, and I am stunned to find that there is one CDC-6500 mainframe left, and YOU CAN LOG INTO IT ONLINE and run code! @LivingComputers
January 24, 2025 at 11:59 PM
balloonscidan.bsky.social
The two amateur pico balloons are cruising unharmed through Montana and Arizona skies! It looks like the military has finally chilled out :-) #BalloonShotDown #balloongate #weatherballoons
January 24, 2025 at 11:58 PM
balloonscidan.bsky.social
It should wake up tomorrow morning local time near the border of British Columbia and Alberta, Canada, in the middle of this pic. Link to track it:

amateur.sondehub.org/#!mt=Mapnik&mz…
January 24, 2025 at 11:58 PM
balloonscidan.bsky.social
Alaska airspace was just penetrated by the next amateur balloon. What will happen? The rainbow lines are where it may drift in the future.
Track it live (if it lives on) here:#balloonshotdown #balloongate #weatherballoons

amateur.sondehub.org/#!mt=Mapnik&mz…
January 24, 2025 at 11:58 PM
balloonscidan.bsky.social
There's a third as well, Swedish, with the first northern one, Canadian. The southern one, American, is the same one that Romania tried to shoot down.
January 24, 2025 at 11:58 PM
balloonscidan.bsky.social
The next two pico balloons that might enter North America. This guess is based on weather forecasts and the variable longevity of the balloons. Being solar-powered, the northern one won't transmit when it's in the northern arctic night. #picoballoons
January 24, 2025 at 11:58 PM
balloonscidan.bsky.social
Little hand-made balloon adventurers are drifting round and round the Earth... #BalloonShotDown
January 24, 2025 at 11:58 PM
balloonscidan.bsky.social
99 red balloons go by... #balloongate
January 24, 2025 at 11:57 PM
balloonscidan.bsky.social
January 24, 2025 at 11:57 PM
balloonscidan.bsky.social
Balloon sci/eng/math holidays stream! What xmas things can we fly as balloons? Come watch and chat! 7:30pm PT, 10:30pm ET
Youtube:Twitch:Also on my FB.
(thx angela for balloon ornament!

twitch.tv/balloonscidan youtube.com/channel/UCfpfd…
January 24, 2025 at 11:56 PM
balloonscidan.bsky.social
230 years ago the first superpressure balloon flew with a ballonet, successfully controlling altitude in the year 1790. From the book "Airships Past and Present
January 24, 2025 at 11:56 PM
balloonscidan.bsky.social
The rise and fall of the superpressure balloon. This chart illustrates the US Govt and academic interest in practical pressurized long duration balloons. From Google Books word popularity by year.
January 24, 2025 at 11:56 PM
balloonscidan.bsky.social
Join me Live Stream chat today: New Project Loon info dump- looking through, find tidbits to make detailed tweets about. Come say hi, ask Qs.
2PM PT / 5PM ET / 22 UTCYoutube:Chat:#balloons

discord.gg/fYrRUpdEz5 bit.ly/balloonscivide… Twitch.tv/balloonscidan
January 24, 2025 at 11:56 PM
balloonscidan.bsky.social
Cosmic ray sensing flights during the International Quiet Sun Year (IQSY). A USA - India joint activity, the program was conducted from Hyderabad. 13 were successful, three were ground failures, and one balloon burst during ascent.

stratospherique.cloud/envelope/1966%…
January 24, 2025 at 11:56 PM
balloonscidan.bsky.social
This paper describes details of a daytime SUN & VENUS optical tracking system and its performance during a May, 1963 flight. The application was to provide pointing reference for a large telescope onboard. Accuracy was *5-10 arcseconds* PDF Download

stratospherique.cloud/envelope/1963%…
January 24, 2025 at 11:56 PM
balloonscidan.bsky.social
A record of all the flight operations information for a large (90m / 300ft diameter) balloon in 1967, in the US Navy Skyhook program. Failure occured during climb at the Tropopause.

stratospherique.cloud/envelope/1967%…
January 24, 2025 at 11:56 PM
balloonscidan.bsky.social
BALSAMINE project - 88 superpressure balloons to study monsoon circulation over the Arabian Sea. temperature, humidity, pressure and over-pressure sensors. Tracking was accomplished by the ARGOS system aboard TIROS-N and NOAA-6 satellites.

stratospherique.cloud/envelope/1979%…
January 24, 2025 at 11:56 PM
balloonscidan.bsky.social
A menu of the balloon films available from the classic major balloon manufacturer GT Schjeldahl, in Northfield Minnesota, from 1967.

stratospherique.cloud/envelope/1967%…
January 24, 2025 at 11:56 PM
balloonscidan.bsky.social
The barocoder is an altimeter that outputs different Morse Code letters based on altitude. From the final report on the Bemidji Balloon Operations, by General Mills, 1962. PDF Download:

stratospherique.cloud/envelope/1962%…
January 24, 2025 at 11:56 PM
balloonscidan.bsky.social
Balloon and payload are always warmer than the air by day, and colder than at night. This produces a convection currents going opposite up/dn day/night You have to make sure that air temp sensors are outside of this air-wash.

stratospherique.cloud/envelope/1961%…
January 24, 2025 at 11:56 PM