In support of our team’s new proposal to build and fly an upgraded version of BLAST-TNG that we call BLAST Observatory, we have published a study of the mapping speed that can be achieved this Super Pressure Balloon mission, which incorporates 8274 Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors operating at 175, 250, and 350 microns. We describe the scientific motivation, the proposed implementation, and the forecasting methods used to predict sensitivity. The reference is:
The January 2020 Antarctic flight of BLAST-TNG made the first observations using microwave kinetic inductance detectors (MKIDs) from a NASA sub-orbital platform. Despite the very short flight duration, we obtained valuable test data including observations of RCW 92B. The left and right panels, respectively, show initial results at 350 and 500 microns. In each case, we show (in blue) the signal collected by just one MKID during a single sweep through this double-peaked Galactic HII region. The same plots also show (in orange) the corresponding profile of the target from maps made by ESA’s SPIRE/Herschel instrument. The BLAST-TNG sweeps shown here each correspond to two seconds of data. We are using these and other flight data to characterize the performance of our detectors and optics. See publications section for links to recent papers.
At 6:10 PM local time on January 6 of this year, BLAST-TNG began its first flight. Most of our systems worked flawlessly and we carried out the first-ever observations using microwave kinetic inductance detectors (MKIDs) from a NASA sub-orbital platform. However, a mechanical failure occurred 14 hours into the flight, preventing us from pointing the telescope and severely curtailing our observing program. We then brought the experiment down, landing on the Antarctic plateau a few hundred km away. The recovery operation is underway, and most components of the experiment have been brought back to McMurdo Station. Some critical parts are still at the landing site awaiting recovery, hopefully any day now. Despite our disappointment at not achieving our goals for the flight, our team is eager to analyze the data we did collect and begin rebuilding for future flights!
We carried out six launch attempts between December 25 and January 4 – these six were canceled due to high or unsteady low-level winds. Photo is from December 28 when we made it as far as the launch pad. The stratospheric circulation pattern is expected to die out in a week or two, so fingers crossed for a launch very soon.
We attached our experiment to the NASA launch vehicle and worked with NASA engineers to look for interference between NASA’s communications and control systems and our experiment’s functions. No problems were found – we are flight ready! Now all depends on the weather. Fingers crossed for a launch opportunity soon!
BLAST-TNG goes outside for communications tests – which were successful! Our team has been very busy over the past several weeks. We’ve cooled our 850 lbs. cryogenic polarimeter (red object in photo), mounted it back onto the telescope, and carried out numerous systems tests. We are nearly flight ready, and the one experiment ahead of us in the line-up – called superTIGER – was successfully launched yesterday. Fingers crossed for good launch conditions!
First BLAST-TNG collaborators arrive in Antarctica to take the experiment out of storage and prepare it for a December launch! This photo, taken from the C-17, shows our team’s first view of Antarctica in almost a year. Its been a long wait following last year’s bad weather and four scrubbed launch attempts, and we are all eager to get out to the Long Duration Ballooning site and get to work.
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