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H. C. Ford (JHU), L. D. Petro, R. Allen, P. Bely, C. J. Burrows, J. Krist, M. Rafal, R. L. White (STScI), W. Jaffe, R. Le Poole (U. Leiden), J. Crocker (JHU), M. A. Dopita (ANU), J. E. Grindlay (CfA)
Our goal is to fly a diffraction limited 2.5-m optical telescope and coronagraph on long duration balloon flights at an altitudes of 35 km above 99.99% of the Earth's atmosphere to search for Jupiter-like planets around nearby stars. Analysis of radiosonde data from Mauna Kea and the South Pole suggests that at optical wavelengths and altitudes above 20 km r0 will be much greater than 6 meters anywhere in the world. A telescope equipped with an ultra smooth mirror and/or adaptive optics and coronagraph would provide three orders of magnitude improvement over the coronagraph in the Advanced Camera for Surveys (to be installed in Hubble in May 2000), four orders of magnitude improvement over the HST WFPC-2 camera, and five orders of magnitude improvement over ground based telescopes. A 2.5-m telescope could detect Jupiters and Saturns around the brightest stars within 10 parsecs of the Earth. No present or planned HST instruments will have this capability. Before we can design, build, and fly high resolution telescopes, we must first understand the high altitude balloon environment in detail. We need to know the spatial and temporal spectrum of wavefront errors, and the differential wind forces that will act on the telescope. We must understand the balloon environment sufficiently well to be able to discharge waste heat without spoiling the local thermal environment. We will discuss the major issues for high altitude "site testing" and subsequent high-resolution observations.