Polar patrol balloon

Abstract

From late December of 1990 to early January of 1991, the National Institute of Polar Research, in collaboration with the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, launched two large zero-pressure balloons from Syowa Station, which is the Japanese research base in Antarctica. The balloon launched on December 25 returned near Syowa Station after 15 days of flight, keeping a constant altitude of about 30 km. It finally accomplished almost a one and half circumpolar flight. The total flight duration was about 40 days. This article will describe the balloon system and the flight behavior of the balloon.