Well It ain't Hubble...but?

[stubeeef]

Link

STOCKHOLM, Sweden - NASA launched a scientific helium balloon from northern Sweden on Sunday with a telescope for studies of star formation, a spokesman for the Esrange launch pad said.

The launch is the first in a series of giant balloons which NASA has organized to transport bulky payloads — such as astronomical telescopes — used in astrophysical experiments and research on cosmic radiation.

The westward flight from Esrange to Alaska will test NASA's new long-lasting balloon vehicle and carries a 5,940-pound telescope at an altitude of 25 miles for six to nine days.

I guess that at 130,000 or so feet up the atmosphere becomes fairly stable, but this just does't seem to be stable enough to me. Goes to show how wrong I must be. The article didn't discuss recovery of the telescope though.

 

[James Philp]

Stu, have you been perusing the NASA site or what dude? This is the second thread you've started on this space crap in like 2 minutes!

BTW the first man "in space" was said to be this guy who went up in a giant helium ballon and got so high up he could see space and the atmosphere and stuff - apparently a glove seal was loose and his hand froze or summit.
The craziest thing though was the fact that to get back to earth he sky-dived! It was like 120000 feet or summit!

EDIT: Found a link to something like the story I was trying to tell:
http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Lighter_than_air/Balloons_and_Space/LTA17.htm

The 140 live drops culminated on December 11, 1959, when Captain J.W. Kittinger made the highest jump ever, 102,000 feet (31,090 meters) up, from the Excelsior II balloon. Kittinger landed safely on the ground after falling almost 20 miles (31 kilometers) thanks to the multistage chute. However, the chute was never adopted by military pilots.
...
At a volume of 10 million cubic feet (283,169 cubic meters), Strato-lab V was the largest human-piloted balloon ever flown and set an altitude record that still stands—113,740 feet (34,668 meters). The pilots wore suits being tested for the Mercury astronauts. Lieutenant Commander Victor Prather drowned in his heavy suit when he slipped from the rescue helicopter harness.

 

[Dont Hurt Me]

Hubble is the greatest telescope ever bar none. I'm so glad Griffin is cleaning the house at NASA. They were lost. This is cool but ain't as cool as Hubble. Temple 1 is coming and guess who's going to be taking a nice look. That's right our favorite, Hubble.

 

[wwooden]

I can't wait until they put a telescope on the dark side of the moon, the images will be amazingly clear and there won't be any interference from earth. That's when we'll really start to see some amazing pictures.

 

[jadam]

I can't wait until they put a telescope on the dark side of the moon, the images will be amazingly clear and there won't be any interference from earth. That's when we'll really start to see some amazing pictures.

It wouldn't make much a difference from where hubble is currently located.

 

[wwooden]

Maybe not so much for telescopes, but for other detectors that could potentially have interference from Earth from radio and other forms of waves being on the dark side of the moon will change everything.

 

[MacSA]

BTW the first man "in space" was said to be this guy who went up in a giant helium ballon and got so high up he could see space and the atmosphere and stuff - apparently a glove seal was loose and his hand froze or summit.
The craziest thing though was the fact that to get back to earth he sky-dived! It was like 120000 feet or summit!

Not true.

The boundary between Earth and space is considered to be at around 60km, the 30km reached by Kittinger is obviousely WAY short of that. And even 60km isnt that far - sub-orbital.

 

[bartelby]

For the X Prize participants had to exceed 100km (62 miles or 328,000 ft) twice in 14 days.

So I guess that's the normal definition of space...

 

[MacSA]

For the X Prize participants had to exceed 100km (62 miles or 328,000 ft) twice in 14 days.

So I guess that's the normal definition of space...

Yes, you're right, I meant to say 60 miles not km.