Large amounts of data collected by today’s sensitive science instruments present a data-handling challenge to small rocket and balloon mission computing systems. “Just generally, science payloads are getting larger and more complex,” said astrophysicist Alan Kogut, of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “You’re always pushing the limit of what can be done, and getting their data back quickly is clearly a high priority for the balloon science community.” Suborbital science platforms provide low-cost, quick-turnaround test opportunities to study Earth, our solar system, an…