Giant Surveillance Balloons Are Lurking at the Edge of Space

WIRED Science: Space, Health, Biotech, and More

• Episode: Giant Surveillance Balloons Are Lurking at the Edge of Space
• Website: WIRED Science: Space, Health, Biotech, and More
• Feed URL: http://api.spokenlayer.com/feed/channel/v1-wired-science-ext/3c9929b72538c12bd92ac6762f8d798b9d4e8cdca7692ea74f466061d01816cb
• Duration: 00:08:43
• Published: 2019-12-31 12:12

It’s a brisk December morning at Spaceport Tucson, America’s premiere (only?) dedicated launch pad for stratospheric balloons, and a small army of technicians in reflective vests is milling around on the concrete and dethawing after a long, cold night. Nearby, a white metal tripod the size of a smart car is tethered to two dozen solar panels and hundreds of feet of clear plastic that stretches across the pad.