NASA launches super balloon to collect near space dataApril 26, 2017 - 10:29 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - A stadium-sized pressure balloon launched by NASA in New Zealand began collecting data in near space on Wednesday, April 26, beginning a 100-day planned journey after several launch attempts were thwarted by storms and cyclones, Reuters reports. The balloon, designed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to detect ultra-high energy cosmic particles from beyond the galaxy as they penetrate the earth's atmosphere, is expected to circle the planet two or three times. "The origin of these particles is a great mystery that we'd like to solve. Do they come from massive black holes at the centre of galaxies? Tiny, fast-spinning stars? Or somewhere else?" Angela Olinto, a University of Chicago professor and lead investigator on the project, said in a statement. The balloon's monitoring was only the start of a long quest which would next involve a space mission currently being designed by NASA, she added. The balloon, launched on Tuesday in Wanaka, a scenic spot on New Zealand's South Island, will collect data from 34 km (21.1 miles) above the earth. New Zealand was also the base for NASA's scientific balloon program in 2015 and 2016. Top stories Yerevan will host the 2024 edition of the World Congress On Information Technology (WCIT). Rustam Badasyan said due to the lack of such regulation, the state budget is deprived of VAT revenues. Krisp’s smart noise suppression tech silences ambient sounds and isolates your voice for calls. Gurgen Khachatryan claimed that the "illegalities have been taking place in 2020." Partner news Most popular in the section | Armenian, Azerbaijani heads of parliament meet in Switzerland President of the Armenian parliament Alen Simonyan met with the Speaker of the Azerbaijani Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova. Border residents overnight on highway to protest Armenia’s Residents of Kirants continue to express outrage over the government’s decision to cede land to Azerbaijan. Get Started: An educational platform for young startuppers The Get Started program which operates in two phases is an important platform for young startuppers. Byblos Bank Armenia celebrates Students' Day with scholarship recipients YSU students who received scholarships from Byblos Bank Armenia gathered in a casual setting to meet with the Bank's CEO, Hayk Stepanyan. |