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Date: 01 May 1995 Depicts: Start of balloon ascent carrying Huygens parachute test model Copyright: ESA Show in archive: true
At Kiruna, Sweden, a stratospheric balloon lifted a full-scale model of Huygens to an altitude of 37.5 km in order for a test of its parachute systems to be performed. At the start of the ascent, pictured here, the distance from the top of the main balloon to the specially-built gondola carrying the probe was 200 m. Small auxiliary balloons attached to the gondola were jettisoned soon after launch.