SuperTIGER Launch (IMAGE)

Washington University in St. Louis

SuperTIGER Launch

Caption

The Super Trans-Iron Galactic Element Recorder (SuperTIGER) instrument is used to study the origin of cosmic rays. SuperTIGER is a collaboration among Washington University in St. Louis, Goddard Space Flight Center, California Institute of Technology Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the University of Minnesota. The SuperTIGER instrument is carried aloft above Antarctica by a giant 39.5 million-cubic-foot scientific balloon. The balloon flies at a height of about 129,000 feet -- nearly four times the typical cruising altitude of commercial airliners. Here, the instrument is waiting on the launch pad as the balloon inflates.

Credit

Wolfgang Zober, Washington University in St. Louis.

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