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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (April 17, 2021)
B5 THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, APRIL 17, 2021 NASA launches research balloon over state By KYLE SPURR The Bulletin MADRAS — The 150-foot-tall balloon, made of plastic thinner than a sand- wich bag, rose above the high desert at sunrise with the goal of helping future missions in space. The helium-fi lled balloon shined in the early morning sunlight as it disappeared into the atmosphere, on its way to an altitude of 110,000 feet. A NASA-sponsored research team launched the balloon at about 6 a.m. Thursday from the Madras Municipal Airport. The bal- loon carried a 100-pound cone-shaped device that later in the day was dropped with a parachute over the high des- ert east of Prineville. “That went well,” said Kevin Tucker, president of the Tillamook-based Near Space Corp., who oversaw the test fl ight. “It’s always interesting. The wind was actually chang- Dean Guernsey/The Bulletin Near Space Corp. personnel prepare to launch a large helium-fi lled balloon, in the background, from Madras Municipal Airport on Thursday. ing, and that’s a big deal. We were very careful about that.” Tucker’s company, which produces balloons for sci- entifi c tests, partnered with researchers from the Univer- sity of Kentucky to launch the balloon and test a delivery system that could be used to return individual items from the International Space Sta- tion back to Earth. The team tracked the balloon’s fl ight Thursday and recovered the dropped device. “The Kentucky team will be gathering a lot of data as this travels from 110,000 feet back to the Earth’s surface,” Tucker said before the fl ight. The university engineer- ing students call the delivery system the Kentucky Re-En- try Universal Payload System. Their research was sponsored by NASA’s Flight Opportu- nities program, said NASA spokesperson Megan Person. “The fl ight aims to enable testing of the technology’s electronics and communica- tions systems in preparation for further research as part of a commercial resupply mis- sion to the International Space Station later this year,” Person said. NASA regularly identifi es projects, such as the balloon launch, and connects research teams with companies and locations to help generate a test. In this case, NASA con- nected the Kentucky students with Tucker’s company and coordinated with the Madras airport. “Today’s successful fl ight is one example of how the Flight Opportunities pro- gram helps advance promis- ing space technologies before they move on to riskier orbital missions,” said Paul De Leon, NASA Flight Opportunities campaign manager. Tucker and his crew orig- inally scheduled the balloon fl ight Wednesday, but called it off because of high winds. On Thursday, conditions were mild enough to allow the launch. Tucker said Madras was the ideal location for the bal- loon fl ight. The open spaces around Madras off er several options to drop and retrieve the device from the balloon, Tucker said. In addition, the Madras airport is smaller and qui- eter than other commercial airports in the region, which allows the team to work with- out interfering with other air- craft. The team still has to coordinate with the Federal Aviation Administration. “The airport doesn’t have a huge amount of traffi c,” Tucker said. “We are not causing may- hem if we do a launch.” Annual checkups. Well-child visits. Immunizations. Dental exams. It’s time to get the care you need. The coronavirus has changed almost everything about our lives. But it shouldn’t keep you and your family from getting care. Columbia Pacific CCO providers are ready with safe in-person, phone and video care options. And they’re all free to Columbia Pacific members. Call your provider for an appointment or visit ColPacHealth.org/care.