Winds bring down giant space balloon

NASA's giant research balloon has been forced down by winds less than 24 hours after its launch.

The balloon landed near Carnarvon, northwest Australia, 1,240 miles from its launch site in Alice Springs.

NASA had hoped the Ultra Long Duration Balloon would circumnavigate the Earth at a height of 20 miles, scraping along the edge of the atmosphere and studying outer space.

The balloon is the largest single-cell, super-pressure balloon ever flown, with a fully inflated diameter of 193 feet and height of 115 feet.

Intended as a cheap alternative to rocket-launched satellites, the helium-filled balloon is made from plastic as thin as sandwich wrap.

But the balloon project has been dogged by problems.

There were lengthy delays ahead of a first launch, which finally took place on February 25.

That balloon was destroyed when controllers brought it down by remote control a few hours into its flight after it sprang a leak.

Australia was picked for the experiment because of the wind currents in the southern hemisphere.

Acting station director Garry Woods said: "It has been an engineering success - but it did not go as smoothly as people would have liked."