March/April 1999

'Scope Floats
Balloon astronomy expands our view of the universe.

Text and photos by Damond Benningfield

Time is running out for BAM. The small astronomical observatory, known formally as the Balloon Anisotropy Measurement experiment, is floating more than 25 miles above the small Texas towns of Bronte and Robert Lee, sailing westward at 54 knots beneath a helium balloon big enough to hold a fleet of jumbo jets.

BAM's telescope points toward the north celestial pole, near the star Polaris, looking for the faint microwave glow of the universe as it looked about 300,000 years after the Big Bang.

BAM swings from the long arm of Tiny Tim.

"We're studying what the Big Bang looked like, very nearly as it happened," explains Mark Halpern, a physicist at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and lead scientist for the BAM project. If the experiment works as planned, BAM may see tiny ripples in the glow — the cosmic "seeds" from which galaxies and clusters of galaxies grew, and indicators of the fate of the universe.

Halpern and other scientists and students from Canada and the United States monitor the flight from a boxy metal hangar at NASA's National Scientific Balloon Facility (NSBF) near Palestine, Texas.

One scientist visits the NSBF control room on the top floor of the hangar, where technicians track the balloon. In less than two hours, as BAM nears the edge of the facility's tracking range, they will trigger an explosive device to separate BAM from the balloon and send it parachuting to earth.

"So, you've been [observing] for two and a half hours," NSFB flight manager Danny Hill jokes when the scientist enters the control room. "Do you know the origin of the universe yet, or do you need a little more time?"

The scientist grins, then rushes downstairs to complete the mission. When you're looking back across billions of years to the birth of the universe, you can always use a little more time.

On to page 2

View back issues by year
1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008