Ballooning Expectations: New Approach for Astronomy
Labeled Large Balloon Reflector
High-flying stratospheric version of the suborbital Large Balloon Reflector (LBR). The telescope consists of an inflatable, half-aluminized spherical reflector deployed within a much larger, carrier stratospheric balloon.
Credits: Christopher Walker
Artist rendition of a 20-30 meter telescope.
A preliminary illustration of a 20-30 meter telescope, the space-based Large Balloon Reflector called the TeraHertz Space Telescope (TST) for probing the evolution of the universe through cosmic time.
Credits: Christopher Walker
Christopher Walker
Innovative thinker, Christopher Walker, Professor of Astronomy and also an Associate Professor of Optical Sciences and Electrical Engineering at the University of Arizona in Tucson.
Credits: Christopher Walker/NIAC
Decades ago when he was in grade school, Christopher Walker stepped outside with his father to see the NASA all-aluminized Echo balloon cross the nighttime sky in Earth’s orbit. That early space spectacle stuck with him, he explains, and unknowingly, was a reflection on his future.
Fast forward several decades. Today, Walker is a professor of Astronomy and an associate professor of Optical Sciences and Electrical Engineering at the University of Arizona in Tucson.
Walker’s winning NASA Innovative Advanced Concept (NIAC) Phase II proposal in 2014 investigated the prospect for a 33-foot - suborbital large balloon reflector, or LBR for short.