Living Digital Q&A Series: Soaring into the stratosphere

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Philippe Vincent is the definition of passionate. A mechanical engineer at the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), Philippe has worked on many fascinating projects over the course of his 17 years with the agency. Today we sit down for a Question & Answer session to talk about how he got here, and his latest project – stratospheric balloons.

Thanks for taking the time to chat, Philippe! Before we discuss your current project, I’d like to learn a little about you. How did you come to work for the Canadian Space Agency and how long have you been there?

Philippe Vincent, Mechnical Engineer, Canadian Space Agency
Philippe Vincent, Mechnical Engineer, Canadian Space Agency

It’s my pleasure, Emmanuel! I started as a co-op student at the CSA but moved into the private sector after I graduated. Eventually, a full time position opened up at the CSA, so I applied. I’ve been working here ever since: 17 years.

Wow, that’s impressive! What kind of jobs have you undertaken in that time?

I’ve been involved with International Space Station projects, as well as designing and manufacturing terrestrial rovers. Since 2012, I’ve been involved with the stratospheric balloon program in collaboration with the French Space Agency, le Centre national d’études spatiales.

I’ve held different positions within this particular program. I started as the Payload Manager position where I was in charge of certifying and testing the scientific payloads. I have also been involved in recovering the balloons when they would come back down to the surface and I’m currently the Mission Manager.

Mission Manager is such a cool title. I’m going to talk to my manager to see if I can get my title changed to that here at the Treasury Board Secretariat.
(spoiler: I was unsuccessful)

Can you talk more about your current work? For starters, what is a stratospheric balloon?

“Stratospheric balloons are high-altitude balloons that are released into the stratosphere, a layer of the Earth’s atmosphere that extends up to 50 km high.”

Absolutely! Stratospheric balloons are high-altitude balloons that are released into the stratosphere, a layer of the Earth’s atmosphere that extends up to 50 km high. The balloons are used for data and testing purposes and can reach heights of between 20 km and 40 km in altitude. They’re the only balloons that can be operated in that part of the atmosphere.

Airplanes fly at around 14 km in the sky which is too low. Sounding rockets fly as high as 150 km but pass through the stratosphere too quickly.

I’m suddenly picturing the house with balloons attached from the movie ‘Up’. What purpose do these balloons serve?

a stratospheric balloon in all its glory
a stratospheric balloon in all its glory

That’s a great movie, by the way! With these balloons, we help companies and researchers test and validate new technologies developed for long-duration space missions and to perform various scientific experiments.

For example, when performing an astronomical mission at 38 km to 40 km in altitude, we can get results just as good as the Hubble Telescope, which is in outer space, because we drastically reduce the distortion cause by the atmosphere compared when taking images from ground stations. Between 15 km and 38 km, for example, we can obtain data on the ozone layer and climate.

It sounds like stratospheric balloons have a ton of uses. What are the main reasons that a private company or the government would want to launch one?

We give grants to academia who provide us with ideas on what they want to do, but it’s usually related to science. There is heavy interest from postsecondary students studying space or engineering. It is an excellent way to train personnel from project definition to data analysis and perform outreach with young generations.

We also open opportunities to industry to test out new technologies. For example, if they want to test solar cells at really high altitudes, they can use these balloons to gather data that will help them commercialize their product.

More and more, private companies across the world are using these balloons for space tourism, but we’re not in that business.

Even if CSA were in that business, my fear of heights would never let me do it. So are the balloons piloted remotely?

Yes, exactly. They’re polyethylene balloons, super thin. They’re quite large depending on the equipment on board and are operated remotely from the ground.

What does it feel like to launch a balloon into the stratosphere and have it land successfully on the ground?

When you see the balloon lifting up to the sky, it looks like a giant jellyfish. The scientific community is quite close, so when a launch happens, the other scientific teams attend and are able to connect with their academic, industry, and even European counterparts. It’s really great to see.

“We really want to help the scientists succeed in their missions, so when they come back to us and are excited with the results, it’s the reason we do it. ”

We really want to help the scientists succeed in their missions, so when they come back to us and are excited with the results, it’s the reason we do it.

What are the main challenges you face?

Preparing the campaign for a balloon launch is one of them. We need to look at the applicants’ needs and look at our compatibility. If one payload has to go up during the day and the other at night, we need to work out those logistics.

Stratospheric balloons aren’t cheap either, although they’re much, much, much cheaper than satellites.

We also have to put contracts in place, certify the payloads to ensure they’re safe, review all of the analysis, etc.

Is there an average length of time that a balloon stays in the stratosphere?

That’s a really good question. We launch all our balloons from Timmins, Ontario, so depending on the time of the year, we launch anywhere from mid-August to about mid-September.

We want to launch when the winds become weaker because the balloons can stay up longer under communication antenna coverage. So, the flights usually last between 8 to 20 hours. Our longest was 28 hours.

Last question: what do you love most about your job?

My team! I love working with my colleagues and I don’t have any trouble waking up in the morning. The job is never the same. No two flights are the same. There are always challenges. It’s an engineering puzzle every time and it’s always fun.

Thanks so much for your time, Philippe!

My absolute pleasure, Emmanuel. Thank you!


 

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