By
The Associated Press
SYDNEY, Australia - A giant NASA research balloon was forced back to Earth on yesterday, just hours after taking off from Australia on a mission to circle the world and study the edge of space.
NASA said the Ultra-Long Duration Balloon sprang a leak and was landed by remote control about 150 miles from the launch site at Alice Springs in central Australia.
Scientists were unsure what caused the leak or the extent of the damage to the balloon, which was carrying a payload of scientific instruments, said acting launch station director Garry Woods.
"It could be something trivial, it could be something important," Woods said. "We literally do not know."
The balloon, which is 193 feet in diameter and 115 feet high, was supposed to fly at an altitude of 20 miles - three to four times higher than jetliners. It is made of a material as thin as plastic food wrap.
The balloon was well above 66,000 feet before the leak was detected, officials said.
NASA said it would not give up on the mission, possibly trying again with a replacement balloon in a week. A team had been sent to recover the balloon and return it to Alice Springs for examination.
Scientists believed the scientific instruments carried by the failed balloon were undamaged, Woods said.
"It didn't just fall out of the sky - we controlled the descent," Woods said.
The launch of the balloon had been delayed for weeks because of wet and turbulent weather.
The balloon was to circumnavigate the globe during the next two weeks, passing over southern Africa and South America before returning to Australia. It is designed to carry research instruments higher and for longer than any other balloon.
At its cruising height, the balloon scrapes the edge of space, riding above all but 1 percent of the earth's atmosphere.
Future missions to study the sun and search for new planets will last up to 100 days. Conventional high-altitude balloon flights last no more than a week because temperature changes between day and night reduce altitude, NASA said.
