NASA’s CORSAIR balloon mission completed its final campaign flight on October 5, lifting off from Fort Sumner, New Mexico at 7:30am local time.

The flight was a reflight of the WASP telescope system after a September 19 attempt was aborted. This time the balloon reached 102,000 feet and stayed aloft for 8 hours and 28 minutes.

The mission studies the Sun’s corona, the wispy outer atmosphere visible during eclipses. It uses the Wallops Arc Second Pointer, which can aim the telescope with sub-arc-second precision.

Balloon missions give scientists a cheap way to test instruments above most of Earth’s atmosphere. Data from the flight will help plan future solar observations.

The team is eyeing an even bigger prize: a potential mission to Antarctica, where a balloon could watch the Sun rotate for a full 27-day cycle.

The WASP system has flown multiple times, building a track record for balloon-borne astronomy. Each flight refines the pointing technology further.

NASA’s balloon program launches dozens of missions a year from sites around the world. They offer space-like conditions at a fraction of orbital costs.