Astral Aviation consultant Dave Park will speak at a Royal Society event in Wānaka this week, describing the design of the NASA balloon and some of its science payloads.

Wānaka Airport is one of only seven NASA launch sites worldwide, and is uniquely positioned to capture the southern skies along latitude 45 south.

NASA last launched from Wānaka in 2017 and is targeting this week for the latest balloon launch, which will be the fourth test launch from Wānaka Airport since NASA began balloon flight operations here in 2015.

Since its establishment more than 30 years ago, the NASA balloon programme has provided high-altitude scientific balloon platforms for scientific and technological investigations, including fundamental scientific discoveries that contribute to our understanding of the earth, the solar system, and the universe.

Balloons, which have been used for decades to conduct scientific studies, can be launched from locations across the globe and are a low-cost method to carry payloads with instruments that conduct scientific observations.

Dave’s talk will cover some of the science payloads NASA has carried in the past and others it has proposed for the future.

Dave grew up in Levin and completed a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering (Hons) at the University of Canterbury and a Master of Engineering in Aircraft design at Cranfield in the UK.

HIs professional career has included aircraft operations engineering and flight operations management roles at Air New Zealand and Qantas New Zealand, as well as 20 years aviation consulting in airport design, airport infrastructure, aircraft operations and airspace safety assessments in NZ, Australia, the South Pacific, Middle East and the UK,

Dave is a member of the Royal Aeronautical Society and the Honourable Company of Air Pilots.

His talk will take place this Friday (May 13) at 6pm at the Presbyterian Community Centre, 91 Tenby Street Wānaka. Entry is $5 per person.

 PHOTO: Wānaka App