Jacob Pinter, host of NASA’s Curious Universe Podcast, left, leads a discussion with Sophia Roberts, a NASA video producer who documented the Webb project, center, and Paul Geithner, former deputy project manager for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, right, following a screening of the new NASA+ documentary “Cosmic Dawn: The Untold Story of the James Webb Space Telescope,” Wednesday, June 11, 2025, at the Greenbelt Cinema in Greenbelt, Maryland. Featuring never-before-seen footage, Cosmic Dawn offers an unprecedented glimpse into the assembly, testing, and launch of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Paul Geithner, former deputy project manager for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, right, speaks during a discussion alongside Sophia Roberts, a NASA video producer who documented the Webb project, and Jacob Pinter, host of NASA’s Curious Universe Podcast, following a screening of the new NASA+ documentary “Cosmic Dawn: The Untold Story of the James Webb Space Telescope,” Wednesday, June 11, 2025, at the Greenbelt Cinema in Greenbelt, Maryland. Featuring never-before-seen footage, Cosmic Dawn offers an unprecedented glimpse into the assembly, testing, and launch of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Paul Geithner, former deputy project manager for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, right, participates in a discussion alongside Sophia Roberts, a NASA video producer who documented the Webb project, and Jacob Pinter, host of NASA’s Curious Universe Podcast, following a screening of the new NASA+ documentary “Cosmic Dawn: The Untold Story of the James Webb Space Telescope,” Wednesday, June 11, 2025, at the Greenbelt Cinema in Greenbelt, Maryland. Featuring never-before-seen footage, Cosmic Dawn offers an unprecedented glimpse into the assembly, testing, and launch of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Jacob Pinter, host of NASA’s Curious Universe Podcast, left, leads a discussion with Sophia Roberts, a NASA video producer who documented the Webb project, center, and Paul Geithner, former deputy project manager for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, right, following a screening of the new NASA+ documentary “Cosmic Dawn: The Untold Story of the James Webb Space Telescope,” Wednesday, June 11, 2025, at the Greenbelt Cinema in Greenbelt, Maryland. Featuring never-before-seen footage, Cosmic Dawn offers an unprecedented glimpse into the assembly, testing, and launch of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Sophia Roberts, a NASA video producer who documented the James Webb Space Telescope project, speaks during a panel discussion alongside Paul Geithner, former deputy project manager for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and Jacob Pinter, host of NASA’s Curious Universe Podcast following a screening of the new NASA+ documentary “Cosmic Dawn: The Untold Story of the James Webb Space Telescope,” Wednesday, June 11, 2025, at the Greenbelt Cinema in Greenbelt, Maryland. Featuring never-before-seen footage, Cosmic Dawn offers an unprecedented glimpse into the assembly, testing, and launch of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
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.