Retour au reportage Retour au reportage
20170104_0062

© Sébastien CHASTANET / CNES / OMP / IRAP / UT3 / CNRS Images

Reference

20170104_0062

Réglages du pivot de la nacelle CARMEN

Adjusting the CARMEN gondola pivot at the Alice Springs balloon launch base in Australia. CARMEN (ChARacterisation and Modelling of the Environment) is a gondola designed to carry a modular payload of scientific instruments, suspended from a stratospheric balloon. It eliminates the need to develop dedicated gondolas (designed specifically for a particular instrument and as such, impractical to reuse). CASOLBA was installed in CARMEN for the Austral campaign of April 2017. The CASOLBA (CALibration of SOLar cells for BAlloon flight) mission payload consists of 60 photovoltaic solar cells. The aim of the mission is to calibrate the cells in real-life, quasi-space conditions. The cells will serve as primary calibration standards, from which to produce secondary standards that will in turn be used by manufacturers of solar cells intended for satellites.

CNRS Institute(s)

Regional office(s)

Scientific topics

CNRS Images,

Our work is guided by the way scientists question the world around them and we translate their research into images to help people to understand the world better and to awaken their curiosity and wonderment.