| has gloss | eng: TopHat was a scientific experiment launched from McMurdo Station in January 2001 to measure the cosmic radiation produced 300,000 years after the Big Bang. The balloon was launched on January 2, 2001 and proceeded to fly for 644 hours over the continent of Antarctica before landing on January 31, 2001. The balloon flew over the continent 38 kilometers (125,000 ft) above the ground, giving the telescope the ability to see the entire continent each day. Its results took over a year to analyze. The working payload was shut down on January 10, 2001 after sufficient measurements were made and the balloon simply circled the continent until it was safe to land, except that the landing missed the targeted ice shelf by around one half mile, and while the discs containing the information were recovered safely using a Twin Otter, the gondola itself had not been recovered by August 2001. |
