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NASA and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute are testing a new way to study the Sun.

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From NASA’s Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility's field site in Fort Sumner, New Mexico

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a football field-sized balloon is flying to the edge of Earth’s atmosphere.

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It’s carrying an instrument called BITSE -- the Balloon-borne Investigation of Temperature and Speed of Electrons in the corona --

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to demonstrate its readiness for future missions.

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BITSE is a coronagraph that blocks the Sun’s bright disk

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to reveal and measure the Sun’s tenuous atmosphere, the corona.

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While standard coronagraphs measure the corona’s density,

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BITSE also measures the temperature and speed of electrons in the corona.

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These three measurements are key for understanding the source of the solar wind, 

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the Sun’s constant stream of charged particles.

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Understanding how the solar wind is formed can help improve forecasts of solar eruptions,

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which, if directed at Earth, can affect our GPS signals and satellites in space. 

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Key parts of this instrument were first tested during the 2017 total solar eclipse. 

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On the balloon, BITSE will fly 22 miles above the ground for at least 6 hours, 

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gathering observations and providing test data for 150 times longer than it could during the few minutes of an eclipse.

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Balloon platforms are a low-cost way to conduct science investigations,

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train the next generation of scientists and engineers, 

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and test instruments before they head to space. 

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Information from BITSE’s balloon flight will help fine-tune this technology for a future space mission. 

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