NASA to launch balloons to study Sun-Earth system The experiment, under NASA's Scientific Balloon Programme, will kick off an ambitious schedule of 18 flights in 2021 Thursday April 29, 2021 8:00 PM, IANS [The experiment, under NASA's Scientific Balloon Programme, will kick off an ambitious schedule of 18 flights in 2021. (Image: NASA)] Washington: NASA is set to launch a suite of scientific balloons, carrying instruments that will help scientists understand the connection between the Sun and Earth. The experiment, under NASA's Scientific Balloon Programme, will kick off an ambitious schedule of 18 flights in 2021. The first campaign of 2021 -- with six balloon flights -- will lift off from NASA's Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility's field site in Fort Sumner, New Mexico, between April-end and mid-June.