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Space balloon lands safely

Chris Hunsley
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (June 20/05) - Touchdown! BLAST was successful. The space telescope, carried by a 33-storey high unmanned balloon from Kiruna, Sweden, landed safely on Victoria Island at approximately 1 a.m., Thursday, more than a day before planned.

Dropped, via parachute, from 40 kilometres up, scientists had originally planned for an Inuvik area landing.

"BLAST had to be cut and dropped because if it continued in the direction it was heading, we would not have been able to recover it," said Dr. Peter Martin of the University of Toronto, who's been working on the project for four years.

At a cost of $10 million, the international effort involving more than a dozen organizations from Canada, U.S., Great Britain, and Mexico, was the first of its kind.

It is expected to open the way for more cost-efficient space missions.

BLAST's voyage was to look at regions where stars were being formed to shed light on the origins of the universe.

"This was the pathfinder mission," said Professor Barth Netterfield of U of T from Kiruna.

BLAST's next trip is expected 18 months from now in the Antarctic, but scientists will first re-examine the telescope's optics.

"We had to change plans and focus on brighter things as opposed to some of the more ambitious areas," said Gaelen Marsden from Sweden, a University of British Columbia student working on the project.

Not a party toy

"It's not a tiny thing, but on the other hand we're really happy with what we've got.

Residents in the expected airfield area were unaware of the impending visit of a space craft.

"I'd never even heard of it," said Kristian Binder.

The Aurora Research Institute and local schools had not been forewarned either.