HYDERABAD: Look up in the sky! It’s a bird, it’s a plane.... Nope, it was a parachute that dropped right out of the sky onto a forest area in Vikarabad on Monday morning. The bizarre event created a flutter in nearby villages. The bright orange parachute became an instant attraction with many people coming down to see it and, obviously, take selfies with it.
It was later understood that the parachute belonged to the Balloon Facility of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Hyderabad located at ECIL. Speaking to Express, a TIFR official said that the institute had released a balloon on Sunday night around 9pm with equipment on board to record data on ozone levels and for research into infrared astronomy.
The balloon was in the atmosphere for 8-9 hours. Once enough data was recorded, researchers on the ground gave commands for detachment of on-board equipment from the balloon and for its descent towards earth with help of a parachute. This is the regular procedure whenever a balloon is launched.
The TIFR official said, “Descent of the equipment with help of parachute is planned, to a secluded location where it would be safe for landing. Once the equipment reaches on ground, its exact location will be known through a transponder which will send coordinates of where the equipment landed.” The parachute landed in Vikarabad after which TIFR scientists visited the spot and collected the equipment.