Science News

To photograph the very infancy of the Universe—back when it was mere seconds years old—you need an extremely complex camera. In an operation that seems not unlike the building of a backyard tree fort, the EBEX team at Columbia University, led by physicist Amber Miller, has spent seven years building a complex balloon-borne telescope. When it takes flight later this year, over the icy dunes of Antarctica, the hope is that scientists will be able to glimpse a little further into the past than ever before.

By sending an infrared telescope to altitudes of 12,000 meters (40,000 feet) and higher, NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) conduct astronomical research that would be impossible using telescopes based on Earth.