Preprint
The Extreme Universe Observatory on a Super-Pressure Balloon II: Mission, Payload, and Flight
ArXiV.org
Cornell University
05/27/2025
DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2505.20762
Abstract
The Extreme Universe Space Observatory on a Super Pressure Balloon 2 (EUSO-SPB2) is a pathfinder mission toward a space-based observatory such as the Probe of Extreme Multi-Messenger Astrophysics (POEMMA). The aim of POEMMA is the observation of Ultra High Energy COsmic Rays (UHECRs) in order to elucidate their nature and origins and to discover \gtrsim 20 PeV very high energy neutrinos that originate from transient and steady astrophysical sources. EUSO-SPB2 was launched from Wānaka New Zealand on May 13th, 2023 as a NASA Balloon Program Office test flight. The mission goals included making the first near-space altitude observations of the fluorescence emission from UHECR-induced extensive air showers (EASs) and making the first direct Cherenkov light emission from PeV cosmic rays traversing Earth's atmosphere. In addition, a Target of Opportunity program was developed for selecting and scheduling observations of potential neutrino sources as they passed just below the Earth's limb. Although a leaky balloon forced termination over the Pacific Ocean after 37 hours, data was collected to demonstrate the successful commissioning and operation of the instruments. This paper includes a description of the payload and the key instruments, pre-flight instrument characterizations in the lab and in the desert, flight operations and examples of the data collected. The flight was too short to catch a UHECR event via fluorescence, however about 10 candidate EAS events from cosmic rays were recorded via Cherenkov light.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- The Extreme Universe Observatory on a Super-Pressure Balloon II: Mission, Payload, and Flight
- Creators
- J. H. Adams JrDiksha GargDenis AllardJane M NachtmanPhillip AlldredgeYasar OnelLuis AnchordoquiMary Hall RenoAnna AnzaloneMahdi BagheriMatteo BattistiRoberto BellottiAlexander BelovMario BertainaPeter BertoneSylvie Blin-BondilJordan BogdanJulia Burton HeigbesFrancis CafagnaMarco CasolinoRosella CarusoKarel ČernýMark J ChristlRoberta ColalilloHank J CrawfordAlexandre CreusotAustin CummingsJulia DesiatoRebecca DiesingAlessandro Di NolaToshikazu EbisuzakiJohannes EserFrancesco FenuSilvia FerrareseGeorge FilippatøsWilliam W FinchFlavia FlaminioDuncan FuehneS FlanneryChrister FuglesangClaudio FornaroSrikar GadamsettyNoah FriedlanderEleanor GazdaAlessio GolzioFausto GuarinoClaire GuépinTobias HeibgesEleanor G JuddLuke KupariPavel A KlimovJohn F KrizmanicViktoria KungelEvgeny KuznetsovMarco MignoneMassimiliano ManfrinWlodzimierz MarszałJohn N MatthewsKameron MehlingMarco MeseStephan S MeyerHiroko MiyamotoAlexey S MurashovAngela V OlintoGiuseppe OsteriaA. Nepomuk OtteBeatrice PanicoEtienne ParizotTom PaulMiroslav PechFrancesco PerfettoLech W PiotrowskiZbigniew PlebaniakJonatan PosliguaMatthew PottsGuillaume PrévôtM PrzybylakPat ReardonMarco RicciOscar F. Romero MatamalaFred SarazinPetr SchovánekViktoria ScottiKenji ShinozakiJorge F SorianoS StephanoffPatrick SternbergBen K StillwellJacek SzabelskiYoshiyuki TakizawaDaniil TrofimovFredrik UnelValerio VagelliLaura ValoreTonia M VentersJohn Watts JrLawrence WienckeHannah WistrandRoy Young
- Resource Type
- Preprint
- Publication Details
- ArXiV.org
- DOI
- 10.48550/arxiv.2505.20762
- ISSN
- 2331-8422
- Publisher
- Cornell University; Ithaca, New York
- Language
- English
- Date posted
- 05/27/2025
- Academic Unit
- Physics and Astronomy
- Record Identifier
- 9984825536902771
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