The second scientific balloon flight for NASA’s Antarctic scientific balloon campaign has reached its float altitude of 120,000 feet after lifting off from the agency’s facility located near the U.S. National Science Foundation’s McMurdo Station on the Ross Ice Shelf at 5:56 a.m. NZST, Saturday, Dec. 20 (11:56 a.m., Friday, Dec. 19 in U.S. Eastern Time).
The balloon is carrying NASA’s Payload for Ultrahigh Energy Observations (PUEO) mission, designed to detect radio signals created when neutrinos from space hit ice. Neutrinos are highly energetic particles. The PUEO payload will collect data that give us insight into events like the creation of black holes and neutron star mergers. This is NASA’s first balloon mission to launch through the agency’s Astrophysics Pioneers program, which supports compelling astrophysics science at a lower cost.
Track the balloon in realtime: https://www.csbf.nasa.gov/map/balloon8/flight737N.htm
Jamie AdkinsDecember 19, 2025