An orientable, stabilized balloon-borne gondola for around-the-world flights

摘要

A system capable of pointing a balloon-borne telescope at selected celestial objects to an accuracy of approximately 10 arc minutes for an extended period (weeks to months) without reliance on telemetry is described. A unique combination of a sun/star tracker, an on-board computer, and a gyrocompass is utilized for navigation, source acquisition and tracking, and data compression and recording. The possibilities for intelligent activities by the computer are also discussed.