Malta has witnessed yet another frontier crossed this week as the Institute of Space Sciences and Astronomy at the University of Malta, in collaboration with the Research and Innovation Ministry, has successfully completed the first launch of a space balloon from our islands. Named Stratos-1, the balloon was launched last Friday from Esplora at Bighi, going beyond the troposphere to reach the stratosphere! Retrieval of the payload was possible thanks to collaboration with the Civil Aviation Authority and the Armed Forces of Malta.
So how does a space balloon work?
Space balloons soar into the sky using helium, which makes the balloon buoyant as helium is less dense than the air around it, being one of the lightest elements (only hydrogen is lighter than helium). Just like an empty water bottle rises in a pool of water due to the air inside of it, the helium balloon floats in the pool of denser air around it, making it rise upward in the Earth’s atmosphere. Helium is preferred over hydrogen for such balloons, since hydrogen is an extremely flammable gas while helium is an inert, noble gas.
Such space balloons are expected to rise to an altitude of around 37 kilometres, although this varies between different balloons and different atmospheric conditions. At such high altitudes, the actual balloon itself is expected to pop, thus ending its climb in the Earth’s atmosphere.
This mainly happens due to the gradual decrease in pressure as one rises up in the Earth’s atmosphere. As the balloon gains altitude, it will expand slowly due to the increasing ratio of the pressure inside the balloon to the outside pressure. At a high enough altitude, the balloon would expand enough to reach the balloon material’s breaking point, and the balloon material ruptures under its own internal pressure, bringing the ascent to an end.
Such balloons can carry different payload weights, dependent on the amount of helium used in the balloon itself. This payload is the reason why such launches are sought after in the first place, being able to carry anything from cameras to specific onboard experiments or data loggers that can take specific measurements during ascent.
The use of GPS instruments to retrieve the payload after descent is also paramount. After the balloon ruptures, a parachute is deployed at a suitable altitude to ensure a soft landing for the payload and its instruments, making it possible to retrieve (using the onboard GPS) and analyse all data captured during ascent. Stratos-1 collected aerial photos of the islands, enabling studies on the Mediterranean stratosphere. Information about atmospheric conditions, sea depth and vegetation health will also be garnered via one the island’s first ever hyperspectral images.
Prof. Kristian Zarb Adami is the director of the Institute of Space Sciences and Astronomy at the University of Malta and also a professor at the University of Oxford.
Sound bites
• Antares launches NG-16 Cygnus space station cargo spacecraft
A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket launched a Cygnus cargo spacecraft on August 10, carrying more than 3,700 kilograms of cargo for the International Space Station. That cargo includes supplies for the station’s crew as well as hardware for the station, such as equipment to support continued upgrades of the station’s solar panels.
Source: https://spacenews.com/antares-launches-ng-16-cygnus-space-station-cargo-spacecraft/
• Lunar cubesats head to the launch pad
The first cubesats designed to study the Moon are scheduled to launch late this year, with more in development in the next few years. NASA’s Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) cubesat is scheduled to launch in the fourth quarter of this year on a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from New Zealand. The 12-unit cubesat will test the stability of the near-rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO) that NASA plans to use for the lunar Gateway, a key part of its Artemis program of lunar exploration.
Source: https://spacenews.com/lunar-cubesats-head-to-the-launch-pad/
For more soundbites, listen to Radio Mocha every Saturday at 7.30pm on Radju Malta and the following Monday at 9pm on Radju Malta 2 https://www.fb.com/RadioMochaMalta/
Did you know?
• It has been 49 years since our last venture to the Moon! In 1972, the Apollo 17 crew became the last group of astronauts to set foot on the Moon till this day.
• The lunar crust is thicker on the farther side of the Moon. Although theories for explaining this phenomenon vary, it is thought that this thicker crust is a direct result of the formation of the Moon itself, when material from the side facing the Earth is thought to have evaporated, right after a collision with the Earth, depositing on the cooler farther side.
• The Moon is, very slowly, inching away from the Earth. This change in the overall Earth-Moon distance will one day mean that total solar eclipses may no longer be a possibility, as the Moon’s size in our skies gradually becomes too small to cover the entire Sun in our skies during a solar eclipse!