Scientific Balloons 1991 NASA; High Altitude Research Platforms (Patreon)

more at http://quickfound.net/

'This video discusses how NASA uses large helium-filled balloons to take payloads up 25 miles to the edge of space to gather data. Balloons provide a cost effective approach to reach these heights.'

Originally a public domain film from NASA, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and one-pass brightness-contrast-color correction & mild video noise reduction applied.

The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original).

https://www.nasa.gov/scientificballoons

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-altitude_balloon

Wikipedia license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

High-altitude balloons are manned or unmanned balloons, usually filled with helium or hydrogen, or in some cases methane, that are released into the stratosphere, generally attaining between 18 and 37 km (11 and 23 mi; 59,000 and 121,000 ft) above sea level. In 2002, a balloon named BU60-1 reached a record altitude of 53.0 km (32.9 mi; 173,900 ft).

The most common type of high-altitude balloons are weather balloons. Other purposes include use as a platform for experiments in the upper atmosphere. Modern balloons generally contain electronic equipment such as radio transmitters, cameras, or satellite navigation systems, such as GPS receivers.

These balloons are launched into what is termed "near space", defined as the area of Earth's atmosphere between the Armstrong limit (18–19 km (11–12 mi) above sea level), where pressure falls to the point that a human being could not survive without a pressurised suit, and the Mesopause (85 km (53 mi) above sea level), where astrodynamics must take over from aerodynamics in order to maintain flight.

Due to the low cost of GPS and communications equipment, high-altitude ballooning is a popular hobby, with organizations such as UKHAS assisting the development of payloads...

Manned high-altitude balloons

Manned high-altitude balloons were used from the 1930s to 1960s for research and in seeking flight altitude records. Notable manned high altitude balloon flights include three records set for highest skydive, the first set by Joseph Kittinger in 1960 at 31,300m for Project Excelsior, followed by Felix Baumgartner in 2012 at 38,969m for Red Bull Stratos and most recently Alan Eustace in 2014 at 41,419m.

Uses

Unmanned high-altitude balloons are used as research balloons. Common uses include weather balloons, as well as atmospheric and climate research. They are also widely used to collect data and imagery from near space. High-altitude ballooning is used for scientific applications such as submillimetre astronomy.

High-altitude balloons have been considered for use in telecommunications and space tourism. Private companies such as zero2infinity and World View Enterprises are developing both manned and unmanned high-altitude balloons for scientific research, commercial purposes, and space tourism. High-altitude platform stations have been proposed for applications such as communications relays...