NASA science balloon being inflated at the launch site near Alice Springs

This photo taken on April 16, 2010 shows a giant NASA science balloon being inflated at the launch site near Alice Springs. The same balloon crashed during take-off on April 29, 2010 smashing its multi-million USD payload. The balloon, the size of a football field when inflated is designed to float up to 40 kilometres (25 miles), deep in the stratosphere to measure X-rays and gamma rays sent out by various stars and galaxies, then flutter back down to the Alice Springs launch site

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