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Researchers watch and worry as balloons are blasted from the sky

Geoff Brumfiel

A NASA balloon launched over Hawaii in 2014 to test components that might one day be used to land spacecraft on Mars. Balloons are regularly used to test new designs and conduct scientific experiments. Bill Rodman/NASA hide caption

A NASA balloon launched over Hawaii in 2014 to test components that might one day be used to land spacecraft on Mars. Balloons are regularly used to test new designs and conduct scientific experiments.

Angela Des Jardins never actually saw the alleged Chinese spy balloon when it made an appearance over Montana earlier this month.

"It was over Billings, which is a couple hours east of here," says Des Jardins, a physicist at Montana State University in Bozeman.

But she's seen plenty of others. Physics and engineering students at Montana State and all over the country use balloons for experiments and to test things they've built. Student teams from the Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project , for example, have have big plans for doing research during next year's total solar eclipse.

In the past, student balloon launches have been festive affairs. But in a world where every balloon is a suspected foreign agent, what will people do when they see a white orb rising from a field?

"Are they going to bring a gun and try to shoot down the balloon?," she wonders.

National Security

Did an f-22 shoot down an illinois hobby group's small radio balloon.

Des Jardins is one of many scientific researchers around the country who have, until now, been using balloons under the public's radar. Balloons regularly carry physics experiments, collect atmospheric data, and test new pieces of scientific equipment. It remains to be seen whether that research will be disrupted following the Chinese balloon furor, but many scientists involved with the work are bracing for change.

"I'm just hoping that the response isn't painted with such a broad brush that it doesn't impact these other programs that are vital and important to the U.S.," says Gregory Guzik , a professor at Louisiana State University who works with high-altitude balloons.

A student balloon takes in the view at 85,000 feet over Montana.

An amateur's project was likely targeted on Feb. 11

It already appears that at least some innocent balloons have been blown out of the sky. President Biden said late last week that three objects shot down over the U.S. and Canada were likely "tied to private companies, recreation, or research institutions studying weather or conducting other scientific research."

One of those balloons is now suspected to have been a hobbyist balloon that had circled the earth six times before it was likely brought down by an AIM-9X sidewinder missile over Canada's Yukon Territory on Feb. 11. The balloon, K9YO-15, was built by the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade, and was being tracked by amateurs when it wandered into airspace monitored by the North American Aerospace Defense Command.

"We knew the moment that the intercept was reported, whose it was and which one it was," Dan Bowen , a stratospheric balloon consultant, told NPR.

U.S. and Canada call off search for unidentified airborne objects that were shot down

Balloons are also used for weather forecasting and commercial ventures. There are no firm numbers on how many civilian balloons are aloft at any given moment, but they're a constant presence in the skies above America. Small balloons like those used by Des Jardins' students drift far above the operating height of aircraft, into the stratosphere.

"Up that high, it's almost like the vacuum of space — it's cold, so you can test a lot of things and give budding engineers and scientists the experience," she says.

The objects typically rise until the pressure difference between the balloon and the thin atmosphere causes them to pop. Then parachutes carry their payloads back to earth, where students retrieve their work. The flights last a matter of hours, instead of days or weeks.

New rules could hinder research

Other, larger balloons can carry payloads that are thousands of pounds. Guzik says they've been used to study everything from solar activity, to cosmic rays and the ozone layer.

Guzik works regularly with large scientific balloons that closely resemble the Chinese spy balloon in appearance. He says he is not particularly worried that his balloons will meet a similar fate. They carry radio beacons that let everyone know they're not a threat.

"All of our balloons have transponders. We know where they are," he says. That allows researchers to contact officials at the Federal Aviation Administration or other agencies who might need to know.

Large scientific balloon experiments can carry solar arrays that, inadvertently, make them look from afar like the Chinese spy balloon. Balloon Program Office/NASA hide caption

Large scientific balloon experiments can carry solar arrays that, inadvertently, make them look from afar like the Chinese spy balloon.

In general, "balloon researchers are careful to follow airspace and other government regulations," says Joan Alexander , a senior scientist with NorthWest Research Associates, a scientific research organization that regularly works on balloon campaigns. "Our research balloons carry no surveillance capability, and safety is always a primary concern."

But Guzik is worried that the Chinese balloon may increase the regulation governing high altitude balloons, making it harder for scientists to do their work. For example, his balloons usually launch from a town in New Mexico near a sensitive government facility:

"While we don't try, we do brush up against the White Sands Missile Test Range," Guzik says.

In the past, it hasn't been a big deal if a balloon drifts near — they simply notify White Sands, and the balloon bobs by, at an altitude far above airplanes and other flying projectiles that might cause concern. But Guzik worries that fears about spying could change the rules, making it harder for peaceful balloons to fly. He can imagine airports, military bases, and many other facilities trying to restrict balloon overflights, something that can be difficult to do, since balloons tend to blow with the wind.

He says right now the conversation is too focused on the military threat from balloons.

"This other side of the story, the useful, practical ballooning that helps students, helps technology and our better understanding of the Universe, really needs to get out there," he says.

• International

February 5, 2023 Suspected China spy balloon news

By Heather Chen , Andrew Raine , Sophie Tanno, Paul LeBlanc and Rhea Mogul , CNN

Balloon over Latin America belongs to China, Beijing says

From CNN’s Selina Wang in Beijing and Wayne Chang in Hong Kong

A balloon spotted over the skies of Latin America belongs to China and was used for flight tests, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said in a regular press briefing on Monday, in response to CNN's queries.  

This is the first time Beijing has admitted the balloon spotted over two Latin American countries belongs to China. 

The balloon “seriously deviated” from its planned course and entered the skies over Latin America and the Caribbean “by mistake” due to weather conditions and limited control ability over the craft, Mao said.

This is the second Chinese balloon Beijing claims has drifted off course due to the weather, after the US military on Saturday shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon that flew over the continental US for days.

“China is a responsible country. We have always strictly abided by international law. We have informed all relevant parties and appropriately handled the situation, which did not pose any threats to any countries,” Mao said, adding that all parties “expressed their understanding.” 

The Colombian Air Force and Costa Rica's Civil Aviation Authority both confirmed that a white observation balloon similar to the one spotted over the US was tracked in their airspace last week, though they did not attribute the vessel to China.

Analysis: Why the Chinese balloon crisis could be a defining moment in the new Cold War

Analysis from CNN's Stephen Collinson

The Chinese balloon saga  threatens to be a watershed moment in the world’s dangerous new superpower rivalry: For the first time, Americans experienced a tangible symbol of the national security challenge from Beijing.

The craft, described by US intelligence as a surveillance balloon, presented a comparatively low-tech, modest security threat compared to the multilayered espionage, economic, cyber, military and geopolitical rivalry escalating every day.

But as it wafted through US skies before being  shot down Saturday  off of the Carolinas, the balloon created a sudden moment when the idea of  a threat by China  to the US homeland was neither distant, theoretical, unseen, or years in the future. And it underscored how in today’s polarized America, Washington’s first reaction in the face of a threat is to point fingers rather than unify.

It was not the first time that Chinese balloons have crossed into US airspace during this administration or the last one — and military officials told CNN this one was not seen as a particularly grave intelligence or national security threat. But its mocking days-long sashay from Montana to the eastern seaboard sparked a media frenzy and a Washington uproar.

In what was simultaneously a moment of geopolitical high stakes and high farce, the White House struggled to explain why it hadn’t immediately burst the balloon as officials in South Carolina warned people not to take pot shots at the high-flying Chinese intruder with their rifles.

This all left  President Joe Biden  in a deeply vulnerable position as his Republican critics pounced. The balloon could not simply be ignored — especially as Secretary of State Antony Blinken was about to head on a trip to Beijing that was quickly canceled as the political storm erupted.

Read the full analysis here.

China lodges "solemn representation" to US Embassy over downed balloon

From CNN's Wayne Chang in Hong Kong

China’s Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng lodged a “solemn representation” to the US Embassy in Beijing on Sunday over the downing of the Chinese balloon, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday.

“What the US has done has seriously impacted and damaged both sides’ efforts and progress in stabilizing bilateral relations since the Bali meeting [between leaders of both countries in November],” the statement said.

According to the statement, the US “turned a deaf ear” against the fact the balloon had “strayed into the US” because of “force majeure,” and “insisted on indiscriminate use of force” against the aircraft “that was about to leave US airspace.” 

“China urges the US not to take further actions that harm China’s interests, and not to escalate or expand the tension… [China] will resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies, resolutely defend the interests and dignity of China, and reserves the right to make further necessary reactions,” the statement said.

Some context: China earlier expressed its “strong dissatisfaction and protest” against the shooting down of the balloon, accusing the US of “overreacting” and “seriously violating international practice.” US officials say the balloon was being used for  surveillance ; China insists it was a civilian research vessel.

Chinese spy balloons over US during Trump years not discovered until after Biden took office, official says

From CNN's Natasha Bertrand

The transiting of three suspected Chinese spy balloons over the continental United States during the Trump administration was only discovered after President Joe Biden took office, a senior administration official told CNN on Sunday.

The official did not say how or when those incidents were discovered.

After the Biden administration disclosed last week that a suspected Chinese spy balloon was hovering over Montana, the Pentagon said similar balloon incidents had occurred during the Trump administration. In response, former Trump administration Defense Secretary Mark Esper told CNN on Friday that he was “surprised” by that statement. 

Former President Donald Trump also said on Truth Social that reports of Chinese balloons transiting the US during his administration were “fake disinformation.”  

CNN reported on Sunday that the Pentagon had briefed Congress of previous Chinese surveillance balloons during the Trump administration that flew near Texas and Florida. 

Rep. Michael Waltz confirmed in a statement to CNN that “currently, we understand there were incursions near Florida and Texas, but we don’t have clarity on what kind of systems were on these balloons or if these incursions occurred in territorial waters or overflew land.”

Another Chinese spy balloon also transited the continental US briefly at the beginning of the Biden administration, the senior administration official said. But the balloon that was shot down by the US military on Saturday was unique in both the path it took, down from Alaska and Canada into the US, and the length of time it spent loitering over sensitive missile sites in Montana, officials said. 

The senior administration official said analysis is ongoing into the capabilities of the balloon shot down on Saturday, adding “closely observing the balloon in flight has allowed us to better understand this Chinese program and further confirmed its mission was surveillance.”

The Biden administration believes the Chinese surveillance program has been deployed in countries across five continents over the past several years.

Navy personnel working at North Myrtle Beach boat landing

From CNN’s Kim Berryman and Carlos Suarez in North Myrtle Beach and Keith Allen in Atlanta

US Navy personnel have been removing items from boats and loading material onto trucks at the Johnny Causey Boat Landing in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on Sunday, according to a CNN team at the scene.

In cell phone video shot earlier in the day that was obtained by CNN, a pile of white material was visible on the deck of one of the boats and several people dressed in camouflage could be seen near the boat.

Another boat that appeared to hold similar material could also be seen at a nearby dock. The people could also be seen unloading several boxes off one of the boats.

CNN cannot confirm that the material is debris from the suspected Chinese spy balloon.

On Sunday night, the personnel would not say what they were doing or why they were working at the boat landing, which is situated along the Intercoastal Waterway in North Myrtle Beach.

They have been identified as Navy personnel according to their uniforms and vessel signage present at the location.

CNN has reached out the Navy Sunday afternoon.

US kept UK informed before and after shooting down of spy balloon

From CNN's Alex Marquardt in Washington D.C.

British officials were kept abreast before and after US military fighter jets shot down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon over the Atlantic Ocean near the US coastline on Saturday, according to a UK official.

As the US tracked the balloon the UK was provided updates and the US assessment from the National Security Council and State Department, the UK official told CNN on Sunday. The official said they were "discussing closely" the situation with the United States.

Once the balloon was shot down on Saturday, the official said they got an update from the Pentagon.

"The US assessment points to a concerning and deliberate violation of their sovereign territory and airspace. We strongly support the decisive action taken by the US and will be following the investigation into this incident," the UK official said.  

Earlier on Sunday, UK business secretary Grant Shapps said Britain supported the US' actions.

"It cannot be right to send spy balloons over the American mainland. The UK would always take national security very seriously," Shapps said in a radio interview.

Republican congressman: Chinese balloons flew near Texas, Florida during Trump administration

From CNN's Jeremy Herb and Zachary Cohen

GOP Rep. Michael Waltz of Florida says the Pentagon has briefed members of Congress about previous Chinese surveillance balloons that flew near Texas and Florida during the Trump administration. 

“Currently, we understand there were incursions near Florida and Texas, but we don’t have clarity on what kind of systems were on these balloons or if these incursions occurred in territorial waters or overflew land,” Waltz said said in a statement to CNN. 

The new details about previous surveillance balloons were confirmed by two additional sources familiar with the briefings. It comes amid Republican criticism of the Biden administration for not earlier shooting down the balloon that flew from Alaska to the Carolinas for several days before it was shot down over the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday.

A US official said Friday there had been similar incidents over Hawaii and Guam in recent years. A senior US defense official said Saturday there were three instances during the Trump administration where China briefly transited a surveillance balloon over the continental United States, and once previously during the Biden administration.

Former Trump administration Defense Secretary Mark Esper, however, said he was “surprised” by the Pentagon’s statement that similar incidents happened during the Trump administration.

“I don’t ever recall somebody coming into my office or reading anything that the Chinese had a surveillance balloon above the United States,” he told CNN Friday.

Capitol Hill braces for briefings and potential vote on Chinese surveillance balloon saga

From CNN's Jack Forrest

With the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon shot down over the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday, lawmakers on Capitol Hill are gearing up for briefings on China and how the Biden administration handled the short-lived, but geopolitically tense, crisis.

The Gang of Eight will receive a briefing as early Tuesday, according to a congressional source. The group consists of top Democratic and Republican leaders in both the House and Senate, as well as key Intelligence Committee members from both chambers. It is generally privy to sensitive information that the rest of Congress is not always briefed on.

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Sunday that the full Senate will receive a classified briefing on China from the Pentagon's Office of Net Assessment. That briefing is slated for February 15, according to a congressional source.

Schumer said the briefing will include information about China’s surveillance capabilities , research and development, advanced weapons systems, and other “critical platforms.”

“The full Senate -- all senators of both parties -- will have a larger and full China briefing next week. And that is something that I think will be very important, serious and hopefully nonpolitical,” the New York Democrat said at a news conference in Manhattan.

House Republicans are weighing a vote this week on a resolution condemning the Biden administration for its handling of the surveillance balloon, a source familiar with the discussions told CNN.

The resolution could be voted on also as early as Tuesday, the same day President Joe Biden will deliver the State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress at the US Capitol.

The source cautioned to CNN, however, that discussions were still ongoing, and no firm plans had been made as yet. 

Republicans have been increasingly critical of the administration in recent days, accusing it of being slow to take action against the spy balloon and making the US look weak .

Obama-era CIA director critical of letting balloon fly across US: 'I don't see the logic of that'

Leon Panetta, who served as Defense secretary and CIA director in the Obama administration, offered a rare Democratic critique Sunday of the Biden administration's handling of the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon.

"If it was [a spy balloon], and if we were aware of the balloon, I think we should have taken steps to prevent it from entering our air space, and I'm not sure that we should have allowed it to simply cross over the country, cross over what were obviously sensitive military sites," Panetta told CNN's Jim Acosta. "I don't see the logic of that."

President Joe Biden told reporters Saturday that he gave the order Wednesday to take down the balloon “as soon as possible." That did not happen until Saturday after top military officials advised against shooting down the balloon while over the continental US because of the risk the debris could pose to civilians and property on the ground.

"The Pentagon said there were risks here. I understand that argument, there were debris risks. At the same time, I think we should have acted earlier if our suspicions were valid that this was, in fact, on an intelligence mission. I hope in the future we make clear to ... China that this kind of incident cannot happen again," Panetta said.

Panetta said Biden would have faced less criticism if he had been transparent with Americans when officials first considered the balloon was on an intelligence-gathering mission and when Biden made the decision to have it shot down.

"The American people, I think, are entitled to know just exactly what our adversaries are up to," Panetta said.

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A standard high-altitude research tool became the world's most-tracked aircraft after thousands of people mistook it for the suspected Chinese spy balloon

• A standard research tool from the United States became the most-tracked aircraft on FlightRadar24.
• Thousands mistook it for the suspected Chinese spy balloon that has gripped global attention.
• FlightRadar24 updated its listing to clarify: "Sorry, this is not a Chinese balloon."

A standard high-altitude research tool from the United States became the world's most-tracked aircraft on popular flight-tracking website FlightRadar24 after thousands mistook it for the suspected Chinese spy balloon that was spotted flying above Montana on February 1.

On Saturday, FlightRadar24 updated the aircraft's label to clarify that it was a standard vessel under the control of the United States, writing: "Sorry, this is not a Chinese balloon."

At least 4,000 users followed every move of research balloon, named HBAL617, on FlightRadar24. It was site's most-tracked aircraft late Friday and early Saturday. 

Related stories

According to  Reuters , HBAL617 belongs to aeronautics company Aerostar, which is based in South Dakota.

The high-altitude Chinese balloon flying over the United States has gripped civilian and military attention worldwide and prompted Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to postpone a scheduled trip to Beijing.  

On Friday, Chinese officials admitted that the balloon came from China, but insisted that it was a "civilian airship used for research" rather than a tool for surveillance.

United States officials have rejected this assertion. In a statement , the Pentagon's press secretary, Brigadier General Pat Ryder, said: "The fact is we know that it's a surveillance balloon, and I'm not going to be able to be more specific than that."

After some Twitter users asked whether FlightRadar24 would track the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon, the company said : "We are not expecting a spy balloon to reveal its location by transmitting ADS-B." Aircrafts use ADS-B to broadcast their identification, position, altitude and velocity to other vessels.

There has been pressure from certain members of Congress, as well as former president Donald Trump, to shoot down the Chinese balloon , but authorities say it's not that simple — in part because fighter jets aren't designed to target balloons.

When a weather balloon went rogue almost 25 years ago, two Royal Canadian Air Force fighter jets fired over 1,000 rounds at it and still couldn't shoot it down.

• Main content

Researchers watch and worry as balloons are blasted from the sky

Angela Des Jardins never actually saw the alleged Chinese spy balloon when it made an appearance over Montana earlier this month.

"It was over Billings, which is a couple hours east of here," says Des Jardins, a physicist at Montana State University in Bozeman.

But she's seen plenty of others. Physics and engineering students at Montana State and all over the country use balloons for experiments and to test things they've built. Student teams from the Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project , for example, have have big plans for doing research during next year's total solar eclipse.

In the past, student balloon launches have been festive affairs. But in a world where every balloon is a suspected foreign agent, what will people do when they see a white orb rising from a field?

"Are they going to bring a gun and try to shoot down the balloon?," she wonders.

Des Jardins is one of many scientific researchers around the country who have, until now, been using balloons under the public's radar. Balloons regularly carry physics experiments, collect atmospheric data, and test new pieces of scientific equipment. It remains to be seen whether that research will be disrupted following the Chinese balloon furor, but many scientists involved with the work are bracing for change.

"I'm just hoping that the response isn't painted with such a broad brush that it doesn't impact these other programs that are vital and important to the U.S.," says Gregory Guzik , a professor at Louisiana State University who works with high-altitude balloons.

An amateur's project was likely targeted on Feb. 11

It already appears that at least some innocent balloons have been blown out of the sky. President Biden said late last week that three objects shot down over the U.S. and Canada were likely "tied to private companies, recreation, or research institutions studying weather or conducting other scientific research."

One of those balloons is now suspected to have been a hobbyist balloon that had circled the earth six times before it was likely brought down by an AIM-9X sidewinder missile over Canada's Yukon Territory on Feb. 11. The balloon, K9YO-15, was built by the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade, and was being tracked by amateurs when it wandered into airspace monitored by the North American Aerospace Defense Command.

"We knew the moment that the intercept was reported, whose it was and which one it was," Dan Bowen , a stratospheric balloon consultant, told NPR.

Balloons are also used for weather forecasting and commercial ventures. There are no firm numbers on how many civilian balloons are aloft at any given moment, but they're a constant presence in the skies above America. Small balloons like those used by Des Jardins' students drift far above the operating height of aircraft, into the stratosphere.

"Up that high, it's almost like the vacuum of space — it's cold, so you can test a lot of things and give budding engineers and scientists the experience," she says.

The objects typically rise until the pressure difference between the balloon and the thin atmosphere causes them to pop. Then parachutes carry their payloads back to earth, where students retrieve their work. The flights last a matter of hours, instead of days or weeks.

New rules could hinder research

Other, larger balloons can carry payloads that are thousands of pounds. Guzik says they've been used to study everything from solar activity, to cosmic rays and the ozone layer.

Guzik works regularly with large scientific balloons that closely resemble the Chinese spy balloon in appearance. He says he is not particularly worried that his balloons will meet a similar fate. They carry radio beacons that let everyone know they're not a threat.

"All of our balloons have transponders. We know where they are," he says. That allows researchers to contact officials at the Federal Aviation Administration or other agencies who might need to know.

In general, "balloon researchers are careful to follow airspace and other government regulations," says Joan Alexander , a senior scientist with NorthWest Research Associates, a scientific research organization that regularly works on balloon campaigns. "Our research balloons carry no surveillance capability, and safety is always a primary concern."

But Guzik is worried that the Chinese balloon may increase the regulation governing high altitude balloons, making it harder for scientists to do their work. For example, his balloons usually launch from a town in New Mexico near a sensitive government facility:

"While we don't try, we do brush up against the White Sands Missile Test Range," Guzik says.

In the past, it hasn't been a big deal if a balloon drifts near — they simply notify White Sands, and the balloon bobs by, at an altitude far above airplanes and other flying projectiles that might cause concern. But Guzik worries that fears about spying could change the rules, making it harder for peaceful balloons to fly. He can imagine airports, military bases, and many other facilities trying to restrict balloon overflights, something that can be difficult to do, since balloons tend to blow with the wind.

He says right now the conversation is too focused on the military threat from balloons.

"This other side of the story, the useful, practical ballooning that helps students, helps technology and our better understanding of the Universe, really needs to get out there," he says.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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A Rising Awareness That Balloons Are Everywhere in Our Skies

As more unidentified objects were shot down by the U.S. Air Force in recent days, experts warned that there were an “endless” array of potential targets.

• Share full article

By William J. Broad

The United States is going to need a lot of missiles if its fighter jets are to shoot down every stray balloon that sets off a radar warning in American airspace.

“At any given moment, thousands of balloons” are above the Earth, including many used in the United States by government agencies, military forces, independent researchers and hobbyists, said Paul Fetkowitz, president of Kaymont Consolidated Industries, a maker of high-altitude balloons in Melbourne, Fla.

Mr. Fetkowitz and other experts say this flotilla may explain the origins of some of what John Kirby, a National Security Council spokesman, called the “slow-moving objects at high altitude with a small radar cross section” that were shot down over the United States and Canada in recent days.

Since Feb. 4, when the United States shot down a large Chinese surveillance balloon that was reportedly flying at a height of roughly 12 miles as it crossed the North American continent, federal officials have sought to enhance radars and atmospheric trackers so they can more closely scrutinize the nation’s airspace. Balloon experts say the upgrade might generate a paralyzing wave of false alarms.

On Friday, fighter jets over waters around Alaska fired on an object the size of a small car that a Defense Department official said was most likely not a balloon. The next day, an American F-22 attacked a cylindrical object over the Yukon Territory in Canada that was smaller than the Chinese surveillance device. On Sunday, an octagonal structure with strings hanging off it and no evident payload was hit over Lake Huron. It had first appeared over Montana days before.

Those three objects posed threats to civilian aviation, Mr. Kirby said, but they were not transmitting communications signals.

“This is a total shocker,” Terry Deshler , an emeritus professor of atmospheric science at the University of Wyoming, said of the recent downings and the enhanced-tracking effort.

“For years you didn’t hear anything about balloons,” he said. “Now, we’re on the lookout for any kind of flying object.”

Mr. Fetkowitz said he worried that government officials in Washington might not realize how crowded American skies had become with high-flying balloons. “There’s a concern that the right hand doesn’t know what the left is doing,” he said of military and civilian activities.

Each year, around 60,000 high-flying balloons are launched just by the National Weather Service , the agency said. They rise into the stratosphere, a layer of the planet’s atmosphere that extends to a height of roughly 30 miles. The balloons used by the Weather Service are designed to rise 20 miles up — far higher than the altitude of any of the four objects detected in the past 10 days.

Mr. Fetkowitz noted that Alaska — where a U.S. fighter jet shot down the unidentified flying object on Friday — had more weather-balloon launching sites than any other state.

The Weather Service’s balloons gather data that keeps passenger jets out of harm’s way and lets experts predict the likely onset of violent storms, Mr. Fetkowitz said. “It’s all about life safety,” he added.

Then there is NASA, which runs a program from Palestine, Texas, that over the years has lofted more than 1,700 large balloons on scientific missions that can last for months. The balloons fly up to 22 miles high, and the payloads weigh up to four tons, roughly that of three small cars. Some carry sensors that explore the health of the ozone layer, which protects living things from the sun’s ultraviolet rays.

Experts in the balloon industry said that DARPA, the secretive defense agency in charge of advanced technology development, was experimenting with a new class of long-duration balloons for battlefield use that would act as communication relays. But Randolph Atkins, an agency spokesman, said neither he nor his supervisor knew of any such project.

The United States is not alone in its frequent use of balloons. Many of the 193 member states and territories of the World Meteorological Organization, based in Geneva, regularly send up stratospheric balloons in large numbers, some designed for long-term missions that collect data from around the globe.

“It’s endless,” Mr. Fetkowitz said of the array of different balloons and programs.

Mr. Fetkowitz said the weather balloons lofted by National Weather Service were designed to burst at their highest point and break into fine debris that cannot endanger wildlife down below. He added that some, however, were underinflated and never flew high enough to burst, and thus could wander about aimlessly with the winds.

“A balloon launched in Denver,” he said, “might land in New Jersey.”

Users of balloons for scientific, commercial and military purposes have faced criticism in the past. For years, environmentalists have said that exploded balloons have fallen back to earth and imperiled natural landscapes, and particularly sea life.

“It’s a major scandal,” said Marilynn Mendell , a public relations consultant who has criticized the environmental effects of stray weather balloons for many years . She pointed to balloon debris she found on a beach in 2016 as an example. “The strings on these balloons are huge, long things,” she said. “It’s an international problem.”

Mr. Fetkowitz of Kaymont Industries said that such criticisms had kept balloon users from speaking out and engaging with the public. “A lot of the scientists out there are keeping their heads down,” he said, even though they know “they’re doing the right thing” for public safety.

The silence of balloon experts might explain why no owner of a shot-down object, with the exception of China, is known to have come forward publicly to discuss the incidents or to complain.

Not all balloons are used for strict scientific or commercial purposes. A bizarre event happened, Mr. Fetkowitz said, when a customer used one of his company’s balloons to loft a device that played aloud the Pink Floyd album “The Dark Side of the Moon.” Mr. Fetkowitz said a different balloon carried a child’s Thomas the Tank Engine toy to stratospheric heights.

“We do vet our customers,” he added. “We’ve turned away people. We don’t want to do business with a guy who wants to send up a gun.”

Because of an editing error, this article misstated what a Defense Department official said about an object shot down by fighter jets in waters over Alaska. The official said it was most likely not a balloon, not that it was one.

How we handle corrections

William J. Broad is a science journalist and senior writer. He joined The Times in 1983, and has shared two Pulitzer Prizes with his colleagues, as well as an Emmy Award and a DuPont Award. More about William J. Broad

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Nasa research balloon makes record-breaking flight.

Flying near the edge of space, a NASA scientific balloon broke the flight record for duration and distance. It soared for nearly 42 days, making three orbits around the South Pole. The record-breaking balloon, almost as large as one and one half football fields, carried the Cosmic Ray Energetics And Mass (CREAM) experiment. CREAM is designed to explore the supernova acceleration limit of cosmic rays, the relativistic gas of protons, electrons and heavy nuclei arriving at Earth from outside the solar system. In addition to gathering scientific data, the flight was a demonstration of the capabilities of the NASA Ultra-Long Duration Balloon (ULDB) support system. The ULDB is being developed to extend flights up to 100 days. The pilot-less, helium-filled scientific balloon was launched from the National Science Foundation’s McMurdo Station, Antarctica on Dec. 16, 2004. The balloon traveled 41 days and 22 hours. It landed on January 27, 660 kilometers (410 miles) from McMurdo Station. Payload recovery operations are in progress. The previous endurance record for a balloon flight was in December 2001 from McMurdo. The flight orbited the South Pole twice over 31 days, 20 hours. The CREAM mission extended the continuous science observation time over previous balloon missions. “We are excited with the duration of this flight, which allowed scientists to get ample data to perform their studies,” said David Pierce, Chief of the Balloon Program Office at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center’s Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Va. “We routinely have long duration balloons that float for up to two weeks, but to have one flight last more than 41 days is very rewarding,” he added. Scientific balloons are made of thin polyethylene material, about the same thickness as ordinary sandwich wrap. An enormous balloon was needed to hoist the two-ton CREAM experiment to about 38,100 meters (125,000 feet). NASA’s balloon expanded to a diameter of more than 137 meters (450 feet) and weighed 1,839 kilograms, (4,055 pounds). “Balloon-borne detectors, flying at the top of the atmosphere, can identify incoming particles before they are broken up in collisions with air nuclei,” said Eun Suk Seo, the Principal Investigator for CREAM at the University of Maryland, College Park, Md. “The science instrument, support systems, and operation scheme were successfully tested throughout this record breaking flight. We are ready for a ULDB flight,” Seo added. “These state-of-the-art particle detectors were for the most part built in university laboratories by students, young scientists and engineers”, said Dr. W. Vernon Jones, Senior Scientist for Suborbital Research at NASA Headquarters. “Hands-on training while conducting frontier research is a major strength of using balloons for research,” he said. Personnel from the National Scientific Balloon Facility (NSBF), Palestine, Texas annually support approximately 25 NASA balloon flights from sites worldwide. They conducted the launch, flight, and recovery operations of the CREAM balloon mission. “We are really proud of our crew in Antarctica,” said Danny Ball, Site Manager of the Texas facility. “Everyone at NSBF contributed to this success, but the crew that spent Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years on the ice deserves most of the credit for a great mission and yet another record flight,” he added. The National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs provided Antarctica ground and air operations support. The CREAM experiment is collaboration among the University of Maryland, the University of Chicago, Penn State University, universities and organizations in Italy, Korea, France and Mexico. Wallops manages NASA’s Scientific Balloon Program for the Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters. For information about NASA’s Scientific Balloon Program on the Internet, visit:

http://www.wff.nasa.gov/~code820/

For pictures and information on the CREAM mission on the Internet, visit:

http://cosmicray.umd.edu/cream/CREAMflight.htm

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UW Students Launch Research Balloons in Ohio During Recent Total Solar Eclipse

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Institutional Communications Bureau of Mines Building, Room 137 Laramie, WY 82071 Phone: (307) 766-2929 Email:   [email protected]

Published April 30, 2024

During the recent total solar eclipse, a group of University of Wyoming students -- known as the UW Space Cowboys -- used a bevy of balloons to lasso information from the rare celestial phenomenon.

The team was in Bluffton, Ohio, and launched 32 latex balloons in 31 hours, beginning the release about 24 hours before the April 8 event. Two other Wyoming teams successfully launched both of their video streaming balloons during the eclipse from a spot near Idabel, Okla.

During an eclipse, the moon is situated between the sun and Earth, casting a shadow on Earth and causing sudden darkness along the eclipse path.

“Our team went to Bluffton because it was within the path of totality and also because of a family connection,” says Phil Bergmaier, an assistant research scientist in the UW Department of Physics and Astronomy and high-altitude balloon specialist with the Wyoming NASA Space Grant Consortium, who served as the main team lead for the project. “We were one of about 20 Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project (NEBP) teams launching balloons hourly along the eclipse path.”

NEBP operates during both total and annular solar eclipses and has been doing so since 2017. In all, the project supported 53 teams made up of more than 700 students from 75 colleges and universities.

The UW Space Cowboys launched their balloons on the campus of Bluffton University, a small institution of approximately 1,000 students. Each balloon flew half-pound weather sensor packages, called radiosondes. The radiosondes measured temperature, humidity, air pressure, wind speed and direction, altitude, latitude and longitude.

During the two days the team was in Bluffton, team members “engaged with several hundred very excited and interested people from the surrounding community who came out to watch many of our hourly balloon launches,” Bergmaier says.

The balloons generally traveled eastward and popped at altitudes of about 110,000 feet above sea level, with one balloon reaching as high as 120,000 feet. After the balloons popped, the radiosondes parachuted back to Earth, most landing in the greater Cleveland area, Bergmaier says.

“Each radiosonde had contact information on them, so folks can let us know when they find them,” he says. “So far, we’ve heard that five of them have been found, including one that landed at an elementary school in Elyria, Ohio.”

Bergmaier was assisted by Lauren Kim, a UW Ph.D. student from Fairport, N.Y., majoring in physics, and Shawna McBride, a senior research scientist in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and director of the Wyoming NASA Space Grant Consortium.

Athens, W.Va. -- Sydney BenChaabane, a junior majoring in anthropology.

Cincinnati, Ohio -- Samantha Smith, a junior majoring in computer engineering.

Cody -- Hunter Kindt, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering.

Coeur d’Alene, Idaho -- Amelia Myers, a sophomore majoring in astronomy and astrophysics.

Erie, Colo. -- Riley Geldean, a senior majoring in chemical engineering.

Gillette -- David Gordon, a junior majoring in astronomy and astrophysics.

Lone Tree, Colo. -- Carson Rardin, a senior majoring in statistics.

Rock Springs -- Erin Poyer, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering.

The students have started to analyze the data and presented some preliminary results at the UW Undergraduate Research and Inquiry Day April 20. During the project, the students learned that solar eclipses can sometimes generate atmospheric gravity waves that are similar to ripples that form when throwing a rock into a pond, Bergmaier says.

“Atmospheric gravity waves tend to be generated by disturbances in the air flow, such as mountains, thunderstorms or even volcanic eruptions. Sometimes, they are visible as ripples in the clouds,” he says. “Mountain waves, or lenticular clouds, which we see often in southeast Wyoming and the Colorado Front Range, are types of gravity waves generated by strong winds over mountains when the atmosphere is very stable.

“Solar eclipses are thought to generate gravity waves due to the sudden onset of the moon’s fast-moving shadow, which can induce rapid atmospheric cooling along the eclipse path,” Bergmaier adds. “Methods have been developed to use radiosonde measurements to detect the presence of gravity waves. Whether the April 8 total eclipse generated gravity waves is still yet to be determined.”

The students also learned that solar eclipses affect the lowest part of the atmosphere, known as the planetary boundary layer. On a typical day, the vertical temperature structure and height of the planetary boundary layer are strongly influenced by solar radiation.

On April 8, the team’s weather station, set up at the Bluffton launch site, recorded a drop in temperature of 6.5 degrees Fahrenheit just after totality. This was much greater than the 1-degree Fahrenheit temperature drop its weather station measured during the annular solar eclipse -- when just 90 percent of the sun was covered -- in Utah during October 2023.

“One of our radiosondes, launched about 15 minutes after totality April 8, showed that this large temperature drop was evident only right near the ground. The air temperature even just 20-30 meters above the ground was much less affected by the eclipse,” Bergmaier explains. “As a result, a temperature inversion -- an increase in temperature with height -- developed right above the ground for a brief period after totality.”

Temperature inversions like this are common within the planetary boundary layer in the evening and overnight -- called nocturnal inversions -- when the air close to the ground cools off more quickly than the air above it, he says. So, in many ways, the total solar eclipse imitated an evening sunset, Bergmaier adds.

“Our data, as well as the data from many of the other NEBP teams, will be analyzed for many years by researchers at NASA and other folks involved in NEBP to better understand how solar eclipses affect our atmosphere,” Bergmaier says. “However, our current team of UW students will be concluding their participation in the project at the end of this semester. Nevertheless, NEBP provided each of them with an opportunity to participate in real-world scientific data collection and fieldwork as part of a larger NASA-supported research project.”

For more information about the UW Space Cowboys, go to Facebook and Instagram . For more about NEBP, go to https://science.nasa.gov/sciact-team/nationwide-eclipse-ballooning-project/ or https://eclipse.montana.edu .

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Dolores Beasley

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(Phone: 202-358-1753)

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Betty Flowers

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RELEASE: 01-03

The countdown is underway for the launch of a revolutionary research-balloon designed to fly higher and longer than anything before it, and the flight could open a new era in scientific research.

NASA’s new Ultra-Long Duration Balloon (ULDB) is scheduled to lift off Jan. 16 from Alice Springs, Australia, and will carry the hopes of many scientists who see balloon technology as an economical means of studying the Earth and space.

“Although balloons have been flying for more than 200 years and scientists have long used them for a variety of research missions, the length of time balloons can stay aloft has always constrained their efforts,” said Steve Smith, Chief of the Balloon Program Office, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, VA. “Thanks to greatly enhanced computer technologies, high-tech materials and advanced designs, longer-range balloons are poised to open a new frontier for high-altitude research”.

The balloon is expected to float over the Southern Hemisphere at an altitude of approximately 115,000 feet (35 kilometers), 3 to 4 times higher than passenger planes. While the test flight is expected to last only about two weeks and circumnavigate the globe, the ULDB is designed to support missions for up to 100 days.

“Balloons provide cost-effective platforms for near-space observations,” said Dr. Vernon Jones, Office of Space Science, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC. “This January flight provides an excellent opportunity to test the newly designed ULDB system.”

The full-scale ULDB is the largest single-cell, super- pressure (fully sealed) balloon ever flown. At launch, the balloon is partially inflated with helium and expands as it rises. When fully inflated, the massive ULDB would barely fit inside a domed football stadium.The ULDB floats above 99 percent of the Earth’s atmosphere and can carry a 3,500-pound (1.588-kilogram) payload. The balloon system comes down in a controlled descent. It may be visible from the ground with a telescope and, in some cases, with the naked eye.

The ULDB’s unique pumpkin-shaped design and its novel material, a lightweight polyethylene film about the thickness of ordinary plastic food-wrap, were successfully tested during a prototype flight from Ft. Sumner, NM, last June.

“Recent development of new balloon materials and associated technologies will enable challenging, important investigations to be done at relatively modest cost,” said Jones. He added that the ability to fly balloons for months or years at a time would create a multitude of scientific and business opportunities.

Conventional high-altitude, scientific balloon flights typically last a few days to a week because temperature changes from day to night ultimately cause the balloon to lose altitude. The ULDB is completely sealed, so gas is not vented to relieve pressure. The new super-pressure balloon will maintain lift, size and shape, and will not lose significant altitude due to atmospheric influences.

Future science missions for the ULDB will study the source of cosmic rays generated from shock waves emanating from supernovae and will perform surveys of X-ray emiting objects in the universe, search for planets around other nearby stars and will study other objects in space, including the Sun.

The Wallops Flight Facility manages NASA’s scientific balloon program for the Office of Space Science. Launch operations are conducted by the National Scientific Balloon Facility, Palestine, TX, which is managed for NASA by the Physical Sciences Laboratory of New Mexico State University, Las Cruces. Australian operational support to NASA is provided by the Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organization.

More information on the Ultra-Long Duration Balloon mission and tracking of the balloon flight can be found at:

http://www.wff.nasa.gov/pages/scientificballoons.html

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Balloons Offer Near-Space Access for Space Biology Researchers

Balloons are often associated with meteorological studies—gauging weather conditions such as temperature, pressure and humidity in the Earth’s atmosphere. But for NASA and other scientists, they also serve as a stepping-stone for other critical space research.

More recently, biological sciences researchers have started using balloons as an experimentation platform. In the context of NASA’s planned Artemis and Mars missions, access to “near space” can advance scientists’ understanding of how biological organisms respond to extreme environments analogous to those found on the Moon and Mars. High-altitude and scientific balloons provide experimental access to various levels of rarefied air, as far up as the stratosphere (above 99% of the atmosphere). This enables researchers to gain initial data about the effects of higher levels of radiation and other factors on biological systems in a more cost-effective and timely manner than if they were to wait for an opportunity to run their experiments on the International Space Station or other orbital platforms.

Balloons come in many forms, ranging from the off-the-shelf models used by students and educators to scientific ones as large as a football stadium utilized by academic researchers and industry. This article will describe some of the ways that these balloons are helping to advance biological sciences research and support space exploration.

MOST UBIQUITOUS: SMALL METEOROLOGICAL BALLOONS

Small high-altitude balloons, also known as meteorological or weather balloons, are a low-cost, fast-track option for experiments that require frequent repetition. Often used by students and educators, missions are short-lived, lasting until the balloon bursts during ascent, which is typically one to four hours after being released. NASA also uses small high-altitude balloons as well. One key difference, however, is that NASA’s balloons, regardless of size, are made from polyethylene film whereas weather balloons are made of rubber.

Payloads are also small, up to 12 pounds suspended in two packages, and subject to landing wherever the wind may take them. Additionally, given that balloons are uncrewed, experiments must be designed in a way to run independently of human control and may be developed and flown in a matter of weeks using commercially available products and applications.

“With some basic knowledge about mission architecture and how to reliably recover a payload, balloon teams can do some really impactful work that would require more time and resources through traditional space-study flight opportunities,” says David J. Smith, director of the Aerobiology Lab at NASA’s Ames Research Center . “And it’s exciting to see the new ways that students are using them to study biological phenomena here on Earth as well.”

For example, in the summer of 2018, California wildfires were rampant. College interns with the Space Life Sciences Training Program (SLSTP) at NASA’s Ames Research Center saw an opportunity to study the effects of the wildfires on airborne microbiomes, such as bacteria, viruses and fungi.

One of the interns, Tristan Caro, now a doctoral candidate with the University of Colorado Boulder, drew inspiration from research findings he’d read about, published by Smith. “I came across something that I thought was really unique, which was people studying how microbes survive in the high atmosphere,” says Caro. “This seems very unintuitive because when you're flying on a plane, for example, you look out the window and there's just nothing, maybe there are some clouds below, but it's basically just void.”

Smith’s research had discovered intact bacterial spores and cells that had traveled from Asia across the Pacific Ocean to North American via dust plumes. “It got us thinking about the possibility that the smoke might be lofting microbes up into the air,” says Jordan McKaig, one of the interns and president of the student board of the American Society of Gravitational and Space Research (ASGSR). “We wanted to see if the microbes could survive the extreme conditions and possibly travel with the weather patterns.”

The team, therefore, set out to design the experiment and gather the materials necessary to build a payload. It required an interdisciplinary approach, bringing together life sciences, engineering and computer programming. “Success can depend on how you build your payload and what type of electronics you need to put on it,” continues Caro. “We chose an Arduino, which is a tiny, inexpensive computer you can buy online—it essentially taught me how to code, which has become a really valuable skill for my research.”

Once the team was ready, they notified the local Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of their launch plans. Although the payload didn’t exceed the threshold weight and technically didn’t require FAA clearance, the SLSTP team still followed protocol, as balloon trajectories are unpredictable.

There are other variables that can affect the outcome of a balloon experiment as well. With the SLSTP project, the first balloon landed in a 100-foot-tall redwood tree and wasn’t recoverable for weeks; a second balloon launched one week later was recovered but failed to collect samples. “Failure has to be an option,” continues McKaig. “If you're not making some mistakes with your science, you’re probably not taking enough risks. But because small balloons are relatively inexpensive and easy to do, you’re able to take more of them.”

In short, small meteorological balloons are a relatively easy and affordable way to conduct life-science experiments, further STEM education and excite rising generations of scientists. Whereas smaller meteorological balloons provide a valuable entry point for students and educators, larger scientific balloons provide the next level of experimental access for professional researchers.

Learn more: NASA’s Scientific Balloon Program

MOST RESEMBLING DEEP SPACE: NASA’S ANTARCTIC BALLOONS

Plants will play a crucial role in enabling space exploration by providing a sustainable source of nourishment for the crew as well as offer the psychological benefits that come with being in the proximity of greenery. Growing plants in space, however, will require a deeper understanding of how these living organisms respond to extreme environments, including radiation. That’s where NASA’s facility in Antarctica can offer researchers the most robust balloon research platform for preparing deep-space experiments. Support for the Antarctic campaign is provided by the National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs.

“Not since the Apollo era have seeds made it outside of the Van Allen belts to sample radiation,” says Robert Ferl, distinguished professor and director of horticultural sciences at the University of Florida. “And it's been 50 years since we've studied the effects of that very real radiation on our biological systems. We can learn by putting plants in extreme environments that are more accessible to us, such as high altitudes at the magnetic pole in Antarctica, where the radiation is most analogous to Mars’. This prepares us to take humans and our biology off planet.”

“Plants are what will allow humans to travel past the capacity of a picnic basket,” adds Anna-Lisa Paul, research professor in horticultural sciences and director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Biotechnology Research at the University of Florida and NASA space biology research scientist. “So, when we leave Earth's orbit, we must take plants with us. Understanding how plants respond to spaceflight environments is the kind of thing that not only excites us as fundamental researchers, but also as people who want to see humanity take that next step in exploration.” Both Ferl and Paul are NASA-funded principal investigators in space biology research.

However, given the remoteness and logistical challenges of the Antarctic location, flight opportunities are scarce and highly competitive. Those who earn the privilege of flying on one of the Antarctic missions—typically one or two missions per year—also benefit from prolonged exposures to space-like conditions because of the way ionizing radiation spills into the Earth’s polar atmosphere.

Since the cold and radiation conditions afforded by the southern pole can provide valuable insights into how these microbes might behave in space, researchers also use the location to study extremophilic microbes—organisms such as spore-forming bacteria—and learn critical information about how spacecraft “stowaways” might affect the health of astronauts or planetary environments inadvertently encountered.

In addition to extreme cold, dryness and near-vacuum conditions at float, many other factors make missions launched from Antarctica unique and advantageous to researchers seeking space-like exposures. Firstly, there’s a consistent source of power. The summertime Antarctic sun doesn't dip below the horizon, so balloons equipped with solar panels get continuous power to their payloads, which can enable missions to last weeks, and even months.

Secondly, Antarctica’s stratospheric wind patterns offer a level of predictability for the balloon’s path. The jet stream reliably flows in a circle around the continent during the austral summer, so that when the helium-filled balloon goes up and starts to drift, it often circles back near the location from which it was launched around eight to 14 days later. This reduces the level of effort required to recover payloads landing on the Antarctic ice.

And thirdly, the radiation quality is different. The Earth’s magnetic fields around the planet allow for incoming solar and galactic radiation to funnel into the poles. This establishes radiation levels much closer to what would be encountered in deep space, so researchers are able to conduct experiments within “natural” environments rather than man-made settings.

The benefits are considerable, but the path to Antarctica can be long and complex. Payloads typically start their journey south in July, fly in December or January and begin the trip home in April or May. The nearly year-long process means that the experiments must be resilient enough to withstand long periods in a form of stasis.

Read more: Nineteen Miles Up, Experiment Reveals Earth Microbes’ Likely Fate on Mars

Balloons can be a valuable platform for biological researchers. For students and educators, smaller meteorological balloons offer an easy, cost-effective way for furthering STEM education. For professional biologists looking to measure how microbes or plant seeds respond to space conditions, larger scientific balloons enable robust radiation exposures. And for technologists hoping to eventually test payloads or instruments on the space station, larger balloons provide a coveted opportunity for quickly maturing hardware.

Stay informed on space biology & physical sciences research: Space Experiments

For daily updates, follow @ ISS_Research , Space Station Research and Technology News or our Facebook . Follow the ISS National Lab for information on its sponsored investigations. For opportunities to see the space station pass over your town, check out Spot the Station .

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Scientists from Washington University in St. Louis pose with the XL-Calibur telescope during a recent testing excursion.

The 3,500-pound XL-Calibur device is held aloft by a crane. During its flight, a scientific balloon will carry the telescope 38,100 meters in the air, above 99.97% of the Earth’s atmosphere.

Research Alert

Newswise — Scientists from Washington University in St. Louis are preparing to launch a balloon-borne telescope to unlock the secrets of astrophysical black holes and neutron stars. XL-Calibur could be launched from Esrange Space Center in Sweden as early as Wed., May 29, according to  Henric Krawczynski  of WashU, who is leading a team of collaborators from the US, Japan and Sweden. The device measures the polarization of X-rays coming from black holes and other extreme objects in the universe.  Read more .

Article Multimedia

Credit: Richard Bose, Washington University in St. Louis

Caption: Scientists from Washington University in St. Louis pose with the XL-Calibur telescope during a recent testing excursion.

Caption: The 3,500-pound XL-Calibur device is held aloft by a crane. During its flight, a scientific balloon will carry the telescope 38,100 meters in the air, above 99.97% of the Earth’s atmosphere.

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Research balloon hovers over Hastings

HASTINGS, Neb. (KSNB) - A high-altitude research balloon could be seen over Hastings Friday morning.

It was located just north of town and had reached an altitude of 67,000 feet. Adams County Emergency Manager Ron Pughes said the balloon was registered and was not a threat.

The web app Flight Radar identified the balloon with an alpha-numeric code, which traced back to a company in Sioux Falls that specializes in research balloons.

The company is Aerostar and its website refers to its so-called Thunderhead Balloon systems. The company says it specializes in “stratospheric platforms utilized for surveillance, reconnaissance and telecommunications functions.”

The Flight Radar app indicated that the balloon launched Thursday near David City in eastern Nebraska. The app showed that since the launch the balloon has traveled over Seward, Geneva, Edgar and Hastings.

Local4 has contacted Aerostar to learn more information.

New research could help predict the next solar flare

When will we be able to see the northern lights again this study could help predict the exact phenomena that caused the bewitching phenomena in the first place..

Newly published research could help predict when there will be "powerful solar storms."

According to Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering, an international team of researchers found that the sun’s magnetic field starts around 20,000 miles below its surface. Previously, the magnetic field was thought to have originated 130,000 miles below its surface.

According to NASA , the sun's magnetic field is created by a magnetic dynamo that is inside of it. This study aimed to prove that the dynamo actually begins near the sun's surface. Researchers hope that a better understanding of the sun's dynamo could help predict future solar flares.

“This work proposes a new hypothesis for how the sun’s magnetic field is generated that better matches solar observations, and, we hope, could be used to make better predictions of solar activity," said the study's co-author Daniel Lecoanet, an assistant professor of engineering sciences and applied mathematics, researcher at the McCormick School of Engineering and a member of the  Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics .

It's an age-old question that astronomer Galileo Galilei tried to answer, but hundreds of years later, researchers say they found the answer and published the findings in the journal , Nature .

“Understanding the origin of the sun’s magnetic field has been an open question since Galileo and is important for predicting future solar activity, like flares that could hit the Earth,” Lecoanet said.

What is a solar flare?

A solar flare is an explosion of radiation that is produced by the sun and can result in solar storms

Recently, the same powerful solar storm that created the bewildering Northern Lights seen across North America , affected farmers' equipment at the height of planting season. Machines and tools that rely on GPS, like tractors, glitched and struggled with navigational issues.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also warned that it could disrupt communications.

Pretty and damaging

While solar flares can cause phenomena such as the aurora borealis that captured attention at the beginning of May, they can cause a lot of damage, too. This is why it's important for researchers to be able to predict when they will hit.

"Although this month’s strong solar storms released beautiful, extended views of the Northern Lights, similar storms can cause intense destruction," said the school in a statement.

According to the university, solar flares can damage the following:

• Earth-orbiting satellites
• Electricity grids
• Radio communications.

How was it calculated?

For their study, researchers ran complex calculations on a NASA supercomputer to discover where the magnetic field is generated.

To figure out where these flares originated, researchers developed "state-of-the-art numerical simulations to model the sun’s magnetic field," states the school.

This new model now takes torsional oscillations into account. It correlates with magnetic activity and is a phenomenon in the sun "in which the solar rotation is periodically sped up or slowed down in certain zones of latitude while elsewhere the rotation remains essentially steady," states a different study .

The sun is super active

The sun is at its solar maximum, meaning it is reaching the height of its 11-year cycle and is at the highest rate of solar activity.

Folks can expect to see more solar flares and solar activity, including solar storms.

Contributing: Eric Lagatta , USA TODAY

Julia is a trending reporter for USA TODAY. She has covered various topics, from local businesses and government in her hometown, Miami, to tech and pop culture. You can connect with her on  LinkedIn  or follow her on  X, formerly Twitter ,  Instagram  and  TikTok : @juliamariegz

High-Flying Physics: Students' Balloon Reaches Stratospheric Heights

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On April 28, a group of American University physics students and faculty launched a high-altitude balloon from Virgnia's Brookneal-Campbell County Airport, capturing breathtaking photos and invaluable data from the stratosphere. 

The balloon ascended 30 kilometers (approximately 18.64 miles) into the stratosphere and traveled 35 kilometers horizontally before descending. The entire flight lasted about two hours, with the descent occurring rapidly after the balloon burst. The payload was retrieved from a tree in a forested area near Harrisburg, Virginia.

"I am so proud of our physics students and faculty for their initiative and intellectual curiosity in exploring scientific frontiers,” says Linda Aldoory , Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “The project truly highlights the spirit of teamwork, hard work, and innovation at the College."

The balloon carried an array of scientific instruments, including GPS devices, cameras, high-energy particle detectors, temperature sensors, a barometric pressure sensor, and an altimeter. Live telemetry and low-resolution imagery were broadcast from the payload using a high-power flight radio to a mobile ground station in a chase vehicle. The instruments collected real-time data on position, air temperature, air pressure, and received signal strength.

Time-lapse panoramic footage recovered from a high-resolution action camera provided breathtaking visuals of the journey. “Despite our efforts to remove humidity from the camera case, frost developed as the temperature plunged below -40°C in the middle of the stratosphere. This sullies the very high-altitude images somewhat, but not our enthusiasm for science!” says Department of Physics faculty member Jonathan Newport . “I want to thank the DC NASA Space Grant Consortium for sponsoring this project and give a special shout out to physics students Eli Rockenbeck and Caleb Dando-Haenisch for being the prime movers of this project.”

See just a few of the photos from the mission!

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What's the best state for you », tracking china's 'grey zone' balloon flights over taiwan.

Tracking China's 'Grey Zone' Balloon Flights Over Taiwan

Chinese and Taiwanese flags are seen through broken glass in this illustration taken, April 11, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File photo

By Jackie Gu and Yimou Lee

TAIPEI (Reuters) - About a month before Taiwan's January presidential election, China began sending intruders over the Taiwan Strait: more than 100 balloons, some of which passed through the island's airspace or busy, Taipei-controlled air corridors for civil aviation.

Experts say the balloons could be psychological warfare, carry surveillance tools or simply gather meteorological data. On some days, as many as eight were detected within a few hours; at other times, weeks passed without any balloons at all. In the week leading up to Taiwan's presidential election on Jan. 13, an average of three balloons were spotted each day.

Then on April 11, they stopped altogether.

The increased frequency has raised alarms both domestically and abroad.

A senior Taiwanese security official briefed on the matter said Chinese balloon flights near Taiwan took place on an "unprecedented scale" in the weeks leading up to Taiwan's elections and described the incidents as part of a Chinese pressure campaign – so-called grey-zone warfare designed to exhaust a foe using irregular tactics without open combat.

Taiwan inaugurates its new president, Lai Ching-te, on May 20. China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory despite the island's objections, has a strong dislike of Lai, believing him to be a dangerous "separatist", whose repeated offers of talks it has rejected, including one in May.

China's defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

China's Taiwan Affairs Office referred Reuters to its comment on Jan. 31, in which it dismissed complaints about the balloons, saying they were for meteorological purposes and should not be hyped up for political reasons.

Before Dec. 8, balloon data was not public, making historical comparisons impossible.

But Jan Jyh-horng, the deputy head and spokesperson of the Mainland Affairs Council, Taiwan's top China policy-making body, told Reuters that in the past, a balloon would be spotted "maybe once a month".

Between December 2023 and April 2024, more than four balloons were detected on eight separate days. In total, just over a hundred balloons were flown during that period.

Three Taiwanese officials briefed on the matter confirmed that the number of Chinese balloons had increased significantly in recent months. The majority are weather balloons collecting atmospheric data, including wind, temperature and humidity, they said, but Taiwan still sees them as Chinese harassment.

The balloons have flown at an altitude of 11,000 to 38,000 feet, with a mean altitude of 22,294 feet – well under the usual altitude for meteorological balloons. According to the U.S. National Weather Service, weather balloons typically reach altitudes of more than 100,000 feet.

"Sending them over at that kind of altitude is dangerous," said Alexander Neill, strategic adviser on Indo-Pacific geopolitics formerly at the International Institute for Strategic Studies and the Royal United Services Institute. "You are within air traffic corridors, and the potential for a collision is concerning."

Jan agreed, saying the balloons are threats to aviation safety.

"They fly very slowly while planes move speedily," he said. "It could be too late when they were spotted, if they were sucked into the engines."

China's most frequent form of "grey zone" activity has been the almost daily air force and navy missions in the waters and skies around Taiwan, forcing the island's armed forces to repeatedly scramble to see off the intruders.

Other tactics Taiwanese officials have expressed concern about include sand dredging close to the Taiwan-controlled Matsu islands, which sit near the Chinese coast.

(For an interactive graphic tracking balloon’s over Taiwan, click )

A second senior Taiwanese senior security official said, citing intelligence gathered by Taiwan, that the data potentially collected by the balloons would be useful for the PLA's rocket forces, because atmospheric factors could affect missile launches.

"If China was planning to mount an air assault onto Taiwan, they would need to understand the meteorological conditions and wind patterns of the island," Neill said.

Wang Ting-yu, a senior lawmaker for Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party and chair of parliament's foreign affairs and defence committee, told Reuters balloons are hard for military radars to detect unless their sensitivity is set to high levels.

But ultra-sensitive radars are likely to spot objects such as birds, and as a result, Taiwan's military might miss other vital targets such as incoming missiles.

"It's a challenging task," he said.

Raymond Kuo, director of the RAND Corporation's Taiwan Policy Initiative, says he thinks the purpose of the balloons is primarily psychological.

"I personally am sceptical of what additional intelligence China could get from balloons that they couldn't get from other platforms," Kuo said. "I think they're mostly meant to signal to Taiwan that they can't even defend their airspace."

(Reporting by Jackie Gu and Yimou Lee; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard, and Ryan Woo in Beijing. Editing by Gerry Doyle)

Copyright 2024 Thomson Reuters .

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Dozens of Egyptian pyramids, some in Giza, sat along a branch of the Nile, study says

The pyramids in and around Giza have presented a fascinating puzzle for millennia. 

How did ancient Egyptians move limestone blocks, some weighing more than a ton, without using wheels? Why were these burial structures seemingly built in the remote and inhospitable desert? 

New research — published Thursday in the journal Communications Earth & Environment — offers a possible answer, providing new evidence that an extinct branch of the Nile River once weaved through the landscape in a much wetter climate. Dozens of Egyptian pyramids across a 40-mile-long range rimmed the waterway, the study says, including the best-known complex in Giza.

The waterway allowed workers to transport stone and other materials to build the monuments, according to the study. Raised causeways stretched out horizontally, connecting the pyramids to river ports along the Nile’s bank. 

Drought, in combination with seismic activity that tilted the landscape, most likely caused the river to dry up over time and ultimately fill with silt, removing most traces of it.

The research team based its conclusions on data from satellites that send radar waves to penetrate the Earth’s surface and detect hidden features. It also relied on sediment cores and maps from 1911 to uncover and trace the imprint of the ancient waterway. Such tools are helping environmental scientists map the ancient Nile, which is now covered by desert sand and agricultural fields. 

Experts have suspected for decades that boats transported workers and tools to build the pyramids. Some past research has put forward hypotheses similar to the new study; the new findings solidify the theory and map a much broader area.  

“The mapping of the Nile’s ancient channel system has been fragmented and isolated,” an author of the new study, Eman Ghoneim, a professor of earth and ocean sciences at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, wrote in an email. “Ancient Egyptians were using waterways for transportation more often than we thought.”

The study looks at 31 pyramids between Lisht, a village south of Cairo, and Giza. They were constructed over roughly 1,000 years, beginning about 4,700 years ago. The pyramid complexes contained tombs for Egyptian royals. High officials were often buried nearby. 

Some of the granite blocks used to construct them were sourced from locations hundreds of miles south of their sites. In some cases, the blocks could be “mammoth,” weighing several tons, said Peter Der Manuelian, a professor of Egyptology at Harvard University and the director of the Harvard Museum’s Museum of the Ancient East.

Manuelian, who was not involved in the new study, said wheels were not used to move the large blocks, which is one reason researchers have long suspected the Egyptians moved materials by water.

“It’s all sledges,” he said. “Water helps an awful lot.”  

In the past, researchers have posited that the Egyptians might have carved canals to the pyramid sites. 

“Canals and waterway systems have been in the consciousness for decades now,” Manuelian said. But newer theories suggest that the Nile was closer to the pyramids than researchers once thought, he added, and new tools can provide some proof. 

“Archaeology has gotten more scientific, and you have ground-penetrating radar and satellite imagery,” he said.

He added that the new study helps improve maps of ancient Egypt.

The findings suggest that millennia ago, the Egyptian climate was wetter overall and the Nile carried a higher volume of water. It separated into multiple branches, one of which — the researchers call it the Ahramat Branch — was about 40 miles long. 

The locations of the pyramid complexes included in the study correspond in time with estimates of the river branch’s location, according to the authors, as water levels ebbed and flowed over centuries. 

In addition, several pyramid temples and causeways appear to line up horizontally with the ancient riverbed, which suggests that they were directly connected to the river and most likely used to transport building materials. 

The study builds on research from 2022 , which used ancient evidence of pollen grains from marsh species to suggest that a waterway once cut through the present-day desert.

Hader Sheisha, an author of that study who is now an associate professor in the natural history department at the University Museum of Bergen, said the new findings add much-needed evidence to bolster and expand the theory. 

“The new study, in concordance to our study, shows that when the pyramids were built, the landscape was different from that we see today and shows how the ancient Egyptians could interact with their physical world and harness their environment to achieve their immense projects,” Sheisha said in an email. 

Ghoneim and her team explain in the study that the Ahramat Branch shifted eastward over time, a process that might have been propelled by drought about 4,050 years ago. Then it gradually dissolved, only to be covered in silt. 

She said they plan to expand their map and work to detect additional buried branches of the Nile floodplain. Determining the outline and shape of the ancient river branch could help researchers locate the remains of settlements or undiscovered sites before the areas get built over. 

Manuelian said that today, “housing almost goes right up to the edge of the Giza plateau. Egypt is a vast outdoor museum, and there’s more to be discovered.”

Evan Bush is a science reporter for NBC News. He can be reached at [email protected].

AI resolves conflicts impeding behavioral research

Media Contact: Leila Gray, [email protected]

Artificial intelligence software has been developed to rapidly analyze animal behavior so that behaviors can be more precisely linked to the activity of individual brain circuits and neurons, researchers in Seattle report.

The program promises not only to speed research into the neurobiology of behavior, but also to enable comparison and reconcile results that disagree due to differences in how individual laboratories observe, analyze and classify behaviors, said Sam Golden , assistant professor of biological structure at the University of Washington School of Medicine. 

“The approach allows labs to develop behavioral procedures however they want and makes it possible to draw general comparisons between the results of studies that use different behavioral approaches,” he said.

A paper describing the program appears in the journal Nature Neuroscience . Golden and Simon Nilsson, a postdoctoral fellow in the Golden lab, are the paper’s senior authors. The first author is Nastacia Goodwin, a graduate student in the lab.

The study of the neural activity behind animal behavior has led to major advances in the understanding and treatment of such human disorders as addiction, anxiety and depression. 

Much of this work is based on observations painstakingly recorded by individual researchers who watch animals in the lab and note their physical responses to different situations, then correlate that behavior with changes in brain activity. 

For example, to study the neurobiology of aggression, researchers might place two mice in an enclosed space and record signs of aggression. These would typically include observations of the animals’ physical proximity to one another, their posture, and physical displays such as rapid twitching, or rattling, of the tail. 

Annotating and classifying such behaviors is an exacting, protracted task. It can be difficult to accurately recognize and chronicle important details, Golden said. “Social behavior is very complicated, happens very fast and often is nuanced, so a lot of its components can be lost when an individual is observing it.” 

To automate this process, researchers have developed AI-based systems to track components of an animal’s behavior and automatically classify the behavior, for example, as aggressive or submissive. 

One such program, developed by Nilsson and Goodwin, is called SimBA, for Simple Behavioral Analysis. The open-source program features an easy-to-use graphical interface and requires no special computer skills to use. It has been widely adopted by behavioral scientists. 

“Although we built SimBA for a rodent lab, we immediately started getting emails from all kinds of labs: wasp labs, moth labs, zebrafish labs,” Goodwin said.

But as more labs used these programs, the researchers found that similar experiments were yielding vastly different results.

 “It became apparent that how any one lab or any one person defines behavior is pretty subjective, even when attempting to replicate well-known procedures,” Golden said.

Moreover, accounting for these differences was difficult because it is often unclear how AI systems arrive at their results, their calculations occurring in what is often characterized as “a black box.”

Hoping to explain these differences, Goodwin and Nilsson incorporated into SimBA a machine-learning explainability approach that produces what is called the Shapely Additive exPlanations (SHAP) score. 

Essentially what this explainability approach does is determine how removing one feature used to classify a behavior, say tail rattling, changes the probability of an accurate prediction by the computer. 

By removing different features from thousands of different combinations, SHAP can determine how much predictive strength is provided by any individual feature used in the algorithm that is classifying the behavior. The combination of these SHAP values then quantitatively defines the behavior, removing the subjectivity in behavioral descriptions.

“Now we can compare (different labs’) respective behavioral protocols using SimBA and see whether we’re looking, objectively, at the same or different behavior,” Golden said.

“This approach allows labs to design experiments however they like, but because you can now directly compare behavioral results from labs that are using different behavioral definitions, you can draw clearer conclusions between their results. Previously, inconsistent neural data could have been attributed to many confounds, and now we can cleanly rule out behavioral differences as we strive for cross-lab reproducibility and interpretability” Golden said.

This research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (K08MH123791), the National Institute on Drug Abuse (R00DA045662, R01DA059374, P30DA048736), National Institute of Mental Health (1F31MH125587, F31AA025827, F32MH125634), National Institute of General Medicine Sciences (R35GM146751, Brain & Behavior Research Foundation, Burroughs Wellcome Fund, Simons Foundation, and Washington Research Foundation.

Photo above: A video frame of two mice whose behavior is being analyzed by SimBA. The dots represent the body parts being tracked by the program. Image: Nastacia Goodwin

  Written by Michael B. McCarthy

For details about UW Medicine, please visit  http://uwmedicine.org/about .