History
The Balloon Facility was established in Boulder, Colorado in 1961 under the auspices of the National Science Foundation. It was moved to Palestine, Texas in 1963 and designated as the National Scientific Balloon Facility (NSBF) in January 1973.
In 1982, sponsorship of the NSBF was transferred from the National Science Foundation to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the NSBF became a separate entity under the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR).
Since October 1987, the NSBF has been operated by the Physical Science Laboratory under the auspices of New Mexico State University located in Las Cruces, New Mexico. It is administered by Goddard Space Flight Center's Wallops Flight Facility Balloon Program Office.
Its Texas location put the NSBF in the middle of the area where the debris from the Space Shuttle Columbia dropped to Earth on February 1, 2003. In February 2006, the NSBF was renamed the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility in honor of the Crew of STS-107.
Read more about this topic: Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility
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