Satellite Crashes From Helium Balloon

by Nancy Atkinson on April 30, 2010


Ouch! This is painful to watch. The launch of a giant helium balloon and its cargo of scientific instruments went horribly wrong when high winds blew the payload from a crane. The runaway payload overturned an SUV and sent onlookers running for their lives. The balloon was carrying gamma-ray detectors that were to be tested for a future NASA observatory.

You really have to feel for the scientists who likely spent years getting these instruments ready.

Nancy Atkinson is Universe Today's Senior Editor. She also is the host of the NASA Lunar Science Institute podcast and works with the Astronomy Cast and 365 Days of Astronomy podcasts. Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador.

  • sfwrtr

    Dramatic and sad. At least nobody was hurt.

    I wonder whether anyone checked the aviation weather report before they started the launch, or if this is really a freak accident. I would not want to be accounting for what happened there.

  • Al

    This is why I come here for news, The comments on Yahoo were disgusting, stuff like “Did E.T. get away at least?” and the obligatory “So this is what NASA spends their money on? Balloons that don’t fly?” I couldn’t read past that. This is a real shame and setback for the scientists involved, hopefully they can recoup and relaunch.

  • http://paulfisher.org Paul

    This was the second in a series of three balloons launched from Alice Springs. The first flew successfully a couple of weeks ago.

    >”I wonder whether anyone checked the aviation weather report before they started the launch, or if this is really a freak accident.”

    It is inconceivable that the weather forecast wasn’t checked, and for high altitude winds as well. However in the desert, strong winds and mini-tornadoes called willy-willies can spring up out of nowhere and catch you by surprise.

  • http://paulfisher.org Paul

    A correction to the title – this wasn’t a satellite as nothing went into orbit (or intended to).

  • http://www.spaceward.org CrazyEddieBlogger

    well the video starts at the time of release – we can’t see what happened before.

    It is quite possible that the wind shifted (as winds are prone to…) and the balloon was moving, which would explain the positioning of the spectators.

    In this case, the forces on the crane would have been large. It could be that it wasn’t released intentionally, or that it was released as a last resort, given how the crane bounced back after the release.

    The information the crane operator had the time was probably then drowned out by the sounds of protest from the rigging, which in that case would have been quite scary…

  • TerryG

    Em… if there was a windsock at the field, it didn’t show on the video clip so it’s possible that Justin was unaware of gusty conditions or that his SUV was parked downwind. Still, there is always the finger-in-the-air test.

    This must be a little similar to how the launch contractors of CryoSat ($165 million) felt just before it ended up in Arctic Ocean (Oct 8, 2005) thereafter derisively and a little uncharitably referred to as Cry-osat.

    But as with Cryosat II, any rebuild, while frustrating, is easier the second time around because now you are making a clone from a known blue print without the development cost of the original, i.e. materials, labour and testing only.

    Stephan Hawking maybe right about alien civilisations observing us, but on the basis of these results, perhaps it’s understandable that they haven’t bothered to make contact.

    Best of luck to our Aussie mates with their next launch.

  • Hon. Salacious B. Crumb

    Again the US is attacking Australia from above. First it was Skylab, now this.

    This doesn’t do any good for international relations, especially if Obama is visiting in June 2010 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the US and Australia.

    So, according to Robert Gibbs, saying ““The President greatly regrets the delay…”

    After this he may well do….

    Not very nice of you guys!

  • timwmyoung

    Definitely terrible. Sometimes scientists do pay their dues like everyone else.
    “You really have to feel for the scientists who likely spent years getting these instruments ready.”- not to mention the owner of the SUV that was overturned and from the way it looked to me the owner of the vehicle next to it, eh, wot? Who wants to bet against their insurance companies giving them the stock “unh-uh*-’act-of-god’” B.S.? Not to mention after a blank stare for a while.
    Definitely better luck next time for all if there is a next time (I hope so).
    Hey, U.T., ever consider adding spell check to this Leave a Reply feature or at least the suggestion that users first write their replies in MS Word or the like and do corrections and then copy/paste it here (yes, like I am doing now)? Trying to read some (most) of these replies is worse than doing those mind improving games (which are now said to not help, anyway). One or two people might try it, better than nothing.
    *- Hey, that’s the way it sounds to me.

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