BARREL (Balloon Array for RBSP Relativistic Electron Losses)
Encyclopedia
Balloon Array for RBSP Relativistic Electron Losses (BARREL) is a NASA
mission operated out of Dartmouth that will work with the Radiation Belt Storm Probes
(RBSP) mission due to launch in 2012. The BARREL project will launch 20 balloons at a time from Antarctica in several launches over 2012 to 2014. Unlike the football-field-sized balloons typically launched at the Poles, these are each just 90 feet in diameter.
Living With a Star
program.
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
mission operated out of Dartmouth that will work with the Radiation Belt Storm Probes
Radiation Belt Storm Probes
The Radiation Belt Storm Probes is a NASA mission under the Living With a Star program. The goal of the LWS program is to develop the scientific understanding necessary to effectively address those aspects of the connected Sun-Earth system that directly affect life and society...
(RBSP) mission due to launch in 2012. The BARREL project will launch 20 balloons at a time from Antarctica in several launches over 2012 to 2014. Unlike the football-field-sized balloons typically launched at the Poles, these are each just 90 feet in diameter.
Scientific Objectives
BARREL will help study the Van Allen Radiation Belts and why they wax and wane over time. Each BARREL balloon will carry instruments to measure particles that are ejected from the Belts that make it all the way to Earth's atmosphere. By comparing such data to that of RBSP—which will be up beyond the atmosphere observing the Belts from a closer viewpoint—the two experiments can try to correlate observations in the Radiation Belts with the number of particles ejected. This will help distinguish between various theories of what causes electron loss in the Belts.Organization
The Principal Investigator is Robyn Millan at Dartmouth College. BARREL is part of NASA'sNASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
Living With a Star
Living With a Star
Living With a Star is a NASA scientific program to study those aspects of the connected Sun-Earth system that directly affect life and society. LWS is a crosscutting initiative with goals and objectives relevant to NASA's Exploration Initiative, as well as to NASA's Strategic Enterprises...
program.