Purpose of the flight and payload description
A balloon-borne instrument to make measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy on angular scales between 0.5 and 3 degrees. The experiment uses a one meter, off-axis Cassegrian telescope, coupled with a four spectral band radiometer. The pointing for the experiment is controlled by a platform which was originally built in the early 1980's by a group at GSFC to map the Galactic plane (FIRS instrument).
Details of the balloon flight
Balloon launched on: 6/1/1995 at 23:53 utc
Launch site: National Scientific Balloon Facility (NSBF), Palestine, Texas, US
Balloon launched by: National Scientific Balloon Facility (NSBF)
Balloon manufacturer/size/composition: Zero Pressure Balloon SF3-459.37-080-NSXC-ST
Balloon serial number: W39.57-2-13
Flight identification number: 1541P
End of flight (L for landing time, W for last contact, otherwise termination time): 6/2/1995 at 13:34 utc
Balloon flight duration (F: time at float only, otherwise total flight time in d:days / h:hours or m:minutes - ): F 9 h 44 m
Landing site: 20 miles NW of Junction, Texas, US
Third flight of the experiment and last one of this version of the instrument.
External references
- A Balloon-borne Millimeter-Wave Telescope for Cosmic Microwave Background Anisotropy Measurements Astrophysical Journal v.470, p.63
- Detection of Cosmic Microwave Background Anisotropy by the Third Flight of MSAM
- Microwave Mappers Sweat Details SCIENCE - 25 Mar 1994 - Vol 263, Issue 5154 - pp. 1682-1684
- NASA Balloon Flights (19891998) in NASA Historical Data Book, Vol. VII: NASA Launch Systems, Space Transportation, Human Spaceflight, and Space Science, 1989-1998
- The MSAM/TopHat Program of Anisotropy Measurements Astrophysical Letters and Communications, Vol. 32, p.273
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