On Wednesday, Hyderabad residents awoke to a ‘strange phenomenon’ in the sky. Many people speculated whether the white object was a planet, star, or alien ship.
Planetary Society Of India Director Raghunandan, on the other hand, clarified that it is a research balloon sent by the National Balloon Facility.
“Many were asking me about the white color object that appeared in sky today at around 7:30 am. It is just a research helium balloon. It is basically sent for atmospheric studies. It carries an instrument weighing nearly 1,000 kg. Last month itself, the facility issued notice saying it will be releasing a research balloon,” he said.
Update For Curious Hyderabadis 😊
It's An Atmosphere Research Balloon Sent By National Balloon Facility – Hyderabadpic.twitter.com/H1XHnLGCSb
— Hi Hyderabad (@HiHyderabad) December 7, 2022
The Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and the Indian Space Research Organisation jointly manage the National Balloon Facility, also known as the TIFR Balloon Facility. This institute is near the Electronics Corporation of India Limited in Hyderabad.
ALSO READ: GHMC comes to the rescue of homeless during winter
GHMC Standing Committee greenlights 12 development proposals
Hyderabad: GHMC to Build Model Corridors in Chandrayangutta, Rajendranagar
Atmospheric research balloons aid in calculating changes in pressure, temperature, humidity, and wind speed at different altitudes. This is used to generate atmospheric sounding graphs, which aid in weather prediction.
“On December 7 at approximately 7:30 am, an odd object was spotted in the sky. The object could be seen if one faced the east direction and looked up. This is a research balloon put out by an organization in Hyderabad called National Balloon Facility. These balloons are released for atmospheric studies. This is a helium balloon that carries nearly 1000 kilos of scientific instruments,” said N Raghunandan, Director of the Planetary Society of India.
TIFR previously stated that the balloons will be launched between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. and will be made of thin (Polyethylene) plastic films with diameters ranging from 50 meters to 85 meters. They intend to launch ten such balloon flights over the course of five months, from 1 November 2022 to 30 April 2023.
(This story has been sourced from a third-party syndicated feed, agencies. Raavi Media accepts no responsibility or liability for the text’s dependability, trustworthiness, reliability, and data. Raavi Media management/ythisnews.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content at its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.)
