Oct 1 1982
From The Space Library
NASA signed an agreement with the National Science Foundation (NSF) that transferred management and operation of the National Scientific Balloon Facility (NSBF) at Palestine, Tex., from NSF to NASA as of October 1. The largest and most advanced facility of its type in the world, the NSBF provided launch and services for scientific balloons at its location 200 miles north of Houston. The site had good conditions for launching lighter-than-air craft, and the ground track after launch put balloons over large portions of the continental United States, allowing easy tracking and instrument monitoring.
Balloon vehicles could carry payloads for research in atmospheric physics, astronomy, and astrophysics to altitudes above the stratosphere (70,000 feet or higher). NASA had been the principal user of the facility; other users were NSF and private and foreign research institutions. GSFC's Wallops Flight Facility would manage NSBF for NASA. (GSFC/WFF Release 82-8; NASA Release 82-142)
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