It takes around an hour to fill a 39-million-cubic-foot scientific balloon with helium. The EXCITE telescope is poised for launch as the day breaks on August 31st, 2024.

The Scientific balloon eclipses the sun as it fills with helium, and the High Altitude Student Platform awaits launch. On August 28, 2024, the student-run mission launched from a 4-million-cubic-foot balloon for its second flight.

Filling a 4 million cubic foot balloon with Helium for the High Altitude Student Platform 2.0 Mission (HASP).

On August 31, 2024, the EXCITE (EXoplanet Climate Infrared TElescope) team conducted a test flight of their telescope from NASA’s Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility in Fort Sumner, New Mexico. Here, EXCITE’s Principal Investigator, Peter Nagler, watches his mission take flight.

This is EXCITE’s moment of release. On August 31, 2024, the EXCITE (EXoplanet Climate Infrared TElescope) team conducted a test flight of their telescope from NASA’s Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility in Fort Sumner, New Mexico. This photo was taken moments after the telescope was released from the tractor vehicle (called Big Bill). Unseen above is the helium-filled scientific balloon that carried the telescope to the edge of space.