NIGHTGLOW flew on an ultra-long duration balloon in February of 2001, but this flight was aborted due to abnormal balloon performance. The flight only lasted a few hours and no science data was returned. The NIGHTGLOW payload was recovered, packed up, and shipped back to the United States for refurbishment.

NIGHTGLOW launched from Alice Springs, Australia on March 17, 2003 at 8:38 a.m. local time (March 16 at 6:08 p.m. EST) on an ultra-long duration balloon. The flight was terminated on March 17, 2003 at 8:07 p.m. local time (March 17 at 5:37 a.m. EST) due to pressure loss in the balloon. No science data was returned.

About Alice Springs...