The GUSTO balloon mission

The Galactic/Extra-Galactic ULDB Spectroscopic Terahertz Observatory (GUSTO) is a NASA Explorer Mission of Opportunity mission led by PI Dr. Christopher Walker of the University of Arizona. The project goal is to develop a Terahertz observatory and balloon-borne platform for conducting a spectroscopic survey of the Milky Way (MW) and Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) to determine the composition energetics and dynamics of the Interstellar Medium (ISM).The University of Arizona will provide the GUSTO 0.9-m aperture telescope and instrument, which will incorporate an array of 3x8 cryogenic Terahertz superconducting heterodyne receivers built in a collaborative effort with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Arizona State University, SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, Virginia Diodes (VDI), and Ball Aerospace. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL) will provide the gondola with all its subsystems: Avionics, Guidance and Control, and Power. JHU/APL will also provide day-to-day project management, mission systems engineering.GUSTO will launch from McMurdo Antarctica in December 2021 and is designed to stay aloft for 100 days or more by utilizing the 100-day flight potential of the new Super Pressure Balloon (SPB), provided by NASA's Balloon Program Office (BPO). During the flight the mission will measure the THz emission from three important interstellar lines: [CII], [OI], and [NII] at 158, 63, and 205 microns, respectively, spread throughout the Milky Way and the neighboring Large Magellanic Cloud. GUSTO will provide the first complete study of the life cycle of the interstellar medium, the gas and dust from which all stars and planets are formed.GUSTO will employ a development approach that uses flight heritage from the Stratospheric Terahertz Observatory (STO) and the Balloon Observation Platform for Planetary Science (BOPPS) and other prior balloon missions.