The telescope will study star dust from the stratosphere.
might be grabbing all the headlines, but the space agency also relies on humble balloons to demonstrate new technology as well as carry out research about the Earth's atmosphere, study the Sun, or even the universe at large. A balloon based mission may not look swanky but typically costs less and moves faster from planning to deployment.
If this has given you the impression that these missions are any less complex to put together, then you need to read further to know about Astrophysics Stratospheric Telescope for High Spectral Resolution Observations at Submillimeter-wavelengths or ASTHROS that is scheduled to be deployed in December 2023. When launched, ASTHROS will rise to an altitude of 130,000 feet above Antarctica to observe wavelengths in the far-infrared region blocked by the Earth's atmosphere.
By looking at these wavelengths, scientists will attempt to understand how clouds of gas and dust which are dispersed in galaxies can also stop the formation of a star. The mission will look at distant galaxies containing millions of stars to understand how stardust and gas interact with other processes such as eruptions from living stars or deaths of massive stars.
“I think this is probably the most complex telescope ever built for a high-altitude balloon mission,” said Jose Siles, the ASTHROS project manager at JPL in the press release. “We had specifications similar to a space telescope but on a tighter budget, schedule, and mass. We had to combine techniques from ground-based telescopes that observe in similar wavelengths with advanced manufacturing techniques used for professional racing sailboats.
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