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Sunrise Gondola

Sunrise Gondola

To get a balloon up to 25 miles above the earth's surface with such sophisticated and sensitive instrumentation is no small feat. The entire system will weigh approximately 5000 pounds, which will require a 40 million cubic foot polyethylene balloon - in other words, the giganitc balloon will be nearly as big as a football field. Not only that, the gondola must keep the telescope aimed at a specific - and relatively tiny - area of the Sun. The telescope's angle must remain within 15 arc seconds, or 1/240th of a degree while constantly twisting on a soaring balloon.