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MODEL RELEASED. Weather balloon launch. Technicians checking equipment before a weather balloon launch. The weather balloon will carry meteorological instruments into the Earth's atmosphere. The instruments will measure temperature, pressure, humidity and other atmospheric conditions and transmit their data to a base station via radio transmitters. Balloon launches generally take place in the winter when west to east winds allow meteorologists to accurately predict a balloon's flight path and landing site. Photographed at the European Space Agency's Esrange launch site near Kiruna, Swedish Lapland. (KEYSTONE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/DAVID HAY JONES)