Super Pressure Balloon

This Technology Development Project consists of the development of a new NASA Super Pressure Balloon vehicle system.  The NASA Balloon Program conducts balloon missions with balloons that are up to 40 Million Cubic Feet (MCF) in volume, and are capable of lifting over 8,000 pounds of payload weight to over 120,000 feet in altitude.  The NASA standard balloon designs are zero pressure balloons, which are vented to the atmosphere and will lose altitude during nighttime flight conditions.  Super Pressure Balloons are sealed balloons that are designed to be pressurized, and will maintain a constant pressure altitude during daytime and nighttime ambient conditions.  These new balloons are also designed to survive 100 days of flight duration, which provides significantly longer science observation times than conventional zero pressure balloons can.