http://www.aviationnow.com/avnow/noys/noys_story.jsp?id=news/NEAR11084.xml

By Jefferson Morris

11/08/2004 08:29:40 AM

If upcoming U.S. Air Force experiments are successful, free-floating "near space" surveillance balloons could be deployed to the field by late next year, according to Maj. Robert Blackington of the Air Force Space Battlelab.

Blackington is the program manager for the Near Space Maneuvering Vehicle (NSMV), a high-altitude airship that is one of several technologies being developed by the battlelab to exploit near-space altitudes (DAILY, Nov. 5). Near space is roughly defined as 66,000-300,000 feet.

A separate effort from the NSMV, the "free floater" would be an unguided, inexpensive balloon carrying a surveillance or communications payload. The idea originated with a company that produces weather balloons, according to Blackington. The company placed a small digital camera on one of their balloons, flew it to about 100,000 feet and took pictures of the Earth.

Blackington was particularly impressed by a comparison shot between satellite imagery and the balloon imagery. "For $600, they got almost an identical shot with the same resolution," he said. Because of their low cost, expendable free floaters can be launched one after another, as needed.

The battlelab plans to test-fly a free floater with a small radio on it later this month, according to Blackington. If the technology proves itself, deployment could take place quickly, he said.

"My commander keeps saying, we want something in Iraq right now to keep kids from dying," he said. "If it gets proven here, we're thinking we can get it over there by this time next year."

Glider

Another promising near-space concept is a high-altitude balloon that would release a glider carrying surveillance equipment, according to Blackington. The balloon floats "over to your area of interest, and then once they've gotten [there], they release the glider and the glider goes in a lazy circle," he said. "The beauty of it is, you can recover the glider in friendly territory, so if you have a high-value payload, you don't lose it, like you do with these other free-floater concepts."

Global Solutions for Science and Learning (GSSL) of Oregon and Aurora Flight Sciences of Manassas, Va., have proposed a demonstration of the glider concept, which is derived from technology the companies demonstrated recently for NASA. As part of the agency's 2007 Mars Scout competition, the companies tested a proposed Mars UAV by releasing it from a balloon at 100,000 feet, where the thin atmosphere simulates martian conditions. The team conducted two flight-tests, but was not selected by NASA (DAILY, April 25, 2003).

The battlelab is considering funding the companies' proposal, Blackington said. "If the glider pans out, according to GSSL they could start building those things very quickly too," he said.