The flight campaign of January/February 2001 was hampered by unusually heavy rains in Alice Springs. There was local flooding of the Todd River, which flows through downtown Alice Springs.

There were two launches of the "pumpkin" style ultra-long-duration balloons. The first carried the NIGHTGLOW payload. This flight was aborted due to abnormal balloon performance at an altitude of approximately 80,000 feet. The flight only lasted a few hours and no science data was returned.

The payload was recovered, but there was not enough time left in the campaign to repair it and get ready for a second launch, given the late date of the first attempt. So the second balloon carried a dummy payload instead of NIGHTGLOW. That flight was more successful, lasting approximately 24 hours, and ending with the balloon being cut down at the far western coast of Australia. The NIGHTGLOW payload was packed up and shipped back to the United States for refurbishment.

A service of the Exploration of the Universe Divsion (EUD)
at NASA's GSFC

Responsible NASA Official: Louis Barbier