Recent Highlights of Scientific Ballooning in Japan

Since 2008, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has carried out annual domestic balloon campaigns from Taiki Aerospace Research Field (TARF). Productive results have been obtained by many projects in academic fields such as atmospheric science, space engineering, cosmic-ray physics, and astronomy. In 2013, an 80,000-m3 balloon made from a 2.8-[Formula: see text]m ultra-thin polyethylene film reached an altitude of 53.7 km, equaling the world record for the altitude of an unmanned balloon. In 2015, JAXA carried out a balloon campaign from Alice Springs in Australia as a precursor of future sustainable overseas activities to compliment the domestic ones at TARF. In this paper, we discuss recent highlights of and future prospects for Japanese scientific ballooning.

The US Long Duration Balloon Facility at McMurdo Station

A sea change in scientific ballooning occurred with the inauguration of 8–20-day flights around Antarctica in the early 1990's. The attainment of 28–31-day flights and 35–42-day flights, respectively, in two and three circumnavigations of the continent has greatly increased the expectations of scientific users. There is a scientific need for the capability to provide similar-duration flights for investigations that cannot be done in the Polar Regions. A new super-pressure balloon is currently under development for future flights of 60–100 days at any latitude. This first new balloon in more than half a century would meet this need and allow the focus to change from increasing the durations of flights over and around Antarctica to ultra-long-duration flights from Antarctica.