JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) has been a GAPS partner throughout our program. Read their article about the GAPS mission here! www.isas.jaxa.jp/en/topics/00... Photo creds: (1) JAXA (2) JAXA made with Natural Earth

Read all about the successful completion of GAPS Flight 1 from our collaborators at INFN & ASI !! INFN: www.infn.it/concluso-con... ASI: www.asi.it/2026/01/conc...

GAPS arrived back safe & sound at the Long Duration Balloon site!! This triumphant return marks a new era for the collaboration as we now embark on the adventure of analyzing our 25 days of flight data!

After 25 days and two full circumnavigations at high-altitude, GAPS has landed just miles from its launch point. GAPS Flight 1 is in the books!!

Throwback Thursday to pre-launch times!! ⭐ GAPS has been in the air for over 24 days and nearly two full rotations!!

A huge thank you to our many remote monitors all over the world for their diligent 24/7 watch over the past 23 days (and those to come). Here's a peak at some of their monitoring set-ups!

GAPS has been up for over 22 days 👍😀

21 days and still going strong !!

20 days in the air!! 🗣

19 days and counting! GAPS is about halfway through its 2nd rotation !! 🌀

for those who don't know,, there's a surplus of snow and ice in antarctica! 🥶GAPS has been up for over 18 days now

another behind the scenes photo and a happy new year!! 16+ days in the air 🎆

the true secret ingredient of GAPS.. lots and lots of foam 15 days and counting!

on-ice team working hard 😎 ... 14+ days in the air!

the on-ice team celebrated the holidays in style... over 13 days in the air!!

GAPS spotted by the on-ice team after a full circumnavigation around the south pole!! Merry Christmas to all our haters 🥳🌀

Best Christmas present everrrr! GAPS has been up for over 11 days! 🎁

GAPS has been up for over 10 days and has almost made a full circumnavigation!

"So so tempting but I’ll stick with NZ thank you very much…" -CH

Happy Holidays from GAPS! 🐧

GAPS celebrates over 9 days in the air! and counting !!

The Italian Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN) and the Italian Space Agency (ASI) are key contributors to GAPS' success! 🎈Read all about it here: www.infn.it/antartide-ga... www.asi.it/2025/12/anta...

GAPS has been in the air for over 8 days!! 🥳 Follow along with live updates at www.csbf.nasa.gov/map/balloon6...

Take a peek into the Columbia Group and learn about the big picture of GAPS! Ft. PI Prof. Kerstin Perez, with cameos from grad student Kelsey Yee and undergrad Ben Rubin. "Is This the Key to Unlocking the 80% of the Universe We Can’t See?" news.columbia.edu/news/gaps-ba...

Read about the GAPS launch and the critical role of @uhmanoa.bsky.social in our collaboration! www.hawaii.edu/news/2025/12...

GAPS is up! The GAPS experiment launched into the sky this Monday, December 15th at  5:37am NZDT (11:37am EST), on it’s mission to probe the nature of dark matter through the hunt for cosmic antinuclei.

The balloon is filled and coverage is live from the launchpad! 🎈 video.ibm.com/channel/nasa...

GAPS needs to be compatible with the NASA/CSBF infrastructure that allows us to launch and communicate with our instrument while it is in flight. We first tested this on the ice with a compatibility test!

Over Thanksgiving break, we let the sun shine in our high-bay to test our solar panels! The entire instrument is powered by an array of solar panels positioned by a rotator which keeps it pointed towards the sun for maximal 24/7 exposure during Antarctic summer, producing > 1500 W of power!

We spent our first week reconnecting all the power and readout electronics in the "electronics bay" to bring GAPS back online after its winter stay in Antarctica!

Last weekend, we were able to get back to the Long Duration Balloon (LDB) site, where GAPS had been hibernating over the Antarctic winter. Thankfully cold (down to -55C!) and dry is just how our detectors like it 🥶

We're back! GAPS has been waiting in Antarctica since last year. As we approach the upcoming launch season, our advance team is already on ice, with more members to join soon. They will work hard to get us flight-ready. Stay tuned for many more exciting updates to come!