Astrophysics Stratospheric Telescope for High Spectral Resolution Observations at Submillimeter-wavelengths, to be launched by NASA, will be launched by a balloon wider than a football field above Antarctica, where it will study star formation in some galaxies that choke it off.

The telescope's primary mirror, which is also its main instrument of light gathering, will be 2.5 meters in diameter - the largest ever to be attached to a high-altitude stratospheric balloon.

As ASTHROS soars above Earth's atmosphere, it will observe light wavelengths that cannot be seen from the ground because Earth's atmosphere blocks them. 

The mirror will improve the telescope's ability to detect fainter light sources and resolve finer details in those light sources, NASA says.

Several stellar feedback regions are present in our home galaxy, the Milky Way, where the telescope is going to observe several regions where stars form.

During the dispersion of material in galaxies, clouds of dust and gas are distributed, and 3D maps of the distribution and motion of gas are created. 

In addition, the project will examine distant galaxies containing many millions of stars, allowing researchers to gain a better understanding of feedback at large scales and across different environments.

NASA's Long Duration Balloon Facility is set to launch the mission no earlier than December 2023 from McMurdo Station in Antarctica, near NASA's Long Duration Balloon Facility.

NASA estimates that these missions typically cost less than space missions, require less time to complete from planning to deployment, and employ new technologies from space missions in the future. 

Approximately ten to fifteen balloon missions are launched each year by the agency's Scientific Balloon Program.