At the end of December 2006, a fascinating experiment was conducted over Antarctica by Canada and its partners, the U.S., the U.K., and Mexico. Attached to a huge helium balloon, a large aperture sub-millimetre telescope called BLAST peered deep into space to study the earliest stages of star and planet formation, and to make high-resolution maps of diffuse galactic emissions.
Canadian Space Agency: BLAST Mission 2006 – Antarctica