Gallery: Sunset Soar II

The Sunset Soar missions in 2011 were a troubled set of flights. One balloon was lost by accident before launch. The three flights that followed had significant focus problems with the still camera, which is why the selection of images is so low for these missions. Sunset Soar did prove useful in refining the fin design introduced on City Soar. The focus issue was eventually resolved in time for Eclipse Soar.

This GoPro frame shows the launch team after moments after the balloon was released.

One of the few in-focus frames from the flight.

A sharp demarcation was observed in the atmosphere during this flight. This line likely marks the tropopause, which forms the boundary between the troposphere and stratosphere.

In this sequence from the GoPro, the balloon can be seen bursting, followed by the parachute inflating as the capsule descends.

Sunset approaches.