During the much-anticipated solar eclipse on Monday, NASA in collaboration with Montana State University, is launching giant balloons filled with bacteria into the stratosphere.
And it's not because NASA is just super excited about the solar eclipse. This endeavor is part of the Eclipse Ballooning Project, which will help researchers prepare for a Mars trip.
Teams across the US are sending approximately 75 balloons equipped with cameras and trackers over 80,000 feet in the air. Over 30 of the balloons will also carry a highly resilient strain of bacteria called Paenibacillus xerothermodurans attached to aluminum "coupons." Scientists are hoping to discover how the bacteria will react in the surface atmosphere on Mars.
"We have to be extremely careful that we don't bring bacteria or other tiny Earth organisms to other planets," project leader and Director of the Montana Space Grant Consortium Angela Des Jardins, told Gizmodo.
The balloons will also carry cameras to capture videos of cloud formations during the solar eclipse. Some of the balloons will also have weather stations called radiosondes attached to them so that researchers can identify how earth's atmosphere changes during an eclipse.
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https://sputniknews.com/society/201708191056613527-nasa-bacteria-balloon-solar-eclipse/
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