NASA concluded its fall scientific-balloon campaign with an October 5 flight from Fort Sumner, New Mexico. The mission carried the CORSAIR solar coronagraph on the Wallops Arc Second Pointer, known as WASP, after an earlier attempt on September 19 was ended shortly after launch.

The balloon reached an altitude of approximately 102,000 feet and remained aloft for 8 hours and 28 minutes. CORSAIR is designed to study the Sun’s outer atmosphere, while WASP holds instruments steady with sub-arc-second pointing accuracy in the motion of a balloon platform.

The reflight gave the team another opportunity to evaluate the combined instrument and pointing system under near-space conditions. Data review and hardware recovery will determine how fully the mission met its engineering and science objectives.

NASA said the work could support a future Antarctic balloon mission lasting at least 27 days, long enough to observe one complete solar rotation. That longer campaign remains a prospective use of the system rather than an outcome of this test flight.