The Balloon Rapid Response for ISON, or BRRISON, mission was flown on
      September 28, 2013. Very early into the flight an anomoly caused the
      telescope to return to the stowed orientation where it became stuck.
      Attempts to fix the anomaly failed and instead system testing and
      calibration images for the BIRC and UVVis cameras were taken instead.
      The gondola was shut down early the next day and safely returned to
      the surface where it was retrieved.

The primary goal of the BRRISON mission was to develop and fly a
      balloon-borne gondola to observe Comet ISON and other planetary
      objects during a one day flight demonstration. The primary science
      objective was to observe carbon dioxide and water vapor in comet
      ISON. Additional objectives included measuring carbon dioxide in
      comet Encke, hydroxyl in several asteroids and the Moon, and water
      vapor in Jupiter.

      The BRRISON flight would have addressed several questions from the
      planetary decadal survey, 'Vision and Voyages for Planetary Science
      2013-2022.' In particular, it would have addressed the following
      questions:

      1) How does the composition of Oort Cloud comets compare to Kuiper
      Belt comets?

      2) What are the chemical routes leading to complex organic molecules
      in regions of star and planet formation?

      3) Were there systematic chemical or isotopic gradients in the early
      solar nebula?

      4) How did Earth get its water and other volatiles?