NASA to launch balloon flight in New Zealand hoping to break flight duration recordMar 6(AZINS) NASA is all set for a record as it will soon launch the longest ever flight for a scientific super pressure balloon (SPB) in New Zealand in April.

NASA experts are in the South Island resort town of Wanaka, preparing for the fourth flight of a 532,000-cubic-metre balloon, with the goal of an ultra-long-duration flight of up to 100 days, Xinhua news agency reported. NASA expects the SPB "to circumnavigate the globe once every one to three weeks, depending on wind speeds in the stratosphere".

"We are thrilled to be back in New Zealand for another test flight of this critical, potentially game-changing technology,” said Debbie Fairbrother, NASA’s Balloon Program Office chief in a press release. “This could be the flight for the record books.”

The balloon will travel eastward carrying a 1,025 kg payload of tracking, communications and scientific instruments. SPB could potentially be a competitive platform for a number of scientific investigations.

In March, the first balloon flight launched from Wankara flew for 32 days, five hours and 51 minutes.