Navajo: Advanced software tool for balloon performance simulation

Global Aerospace Corporation has developed and released to NASA an advanced balloon performance and analysis tool, called Navajo. Navajo advances the state of the art for balloon performance models and can assist NASA and commercial balloon designers, campaign and mission planners, and flight operations staff by providing higher-accuracy vertical and horizontal trajectory predictions than previously possible. Navajo advances the state of the art by employing a highly sophisticated radiative model that accounts for the actual design and shape of the balloon during ascent and float; by treating radiative fluxes in the atmosphere in a realistic manner; and by providing a graphical user interface. Navajo decouples environment and balloon trajectory models to allow a given balloon design to be flown within any number of environment models with different levels of fidelity. Navajo provides integrated vertical and horizontal trajectory modeling and an extensible application architecture to allow different balloon designs and new environments.