NASA balloon breaks records, collects data

A NASA balloon broke records as it monitored cosmic rays over Antarctica, according to a NASA news release.

Scientists from Washington University of St. Louis and NASA deployed the Super Trans-Iron Galactic Element Recorder balloon on Dec. 8. It traveled over Antarctica at an altitude four times that of a commercial airliner, for 55 days, 1 hour and 34 minutes.

The flight ended last Friday, breaking records for the longest flight for a heavy lift science balloon and the longest flight for a balloon of its size.

The balloon gathered data on rare elements in cosmic rays hitting the Earth. The scientists predicted that it will take two years to sort through the information collected.

Image: NASA’s Super-TIGER science balloon (Credit: NASA)