The FIREBall-2 UV balloon telescope (PI: Chris Martin, Caltech) has been selected for four more years of funding by NASA to perform two more flights. FIREBall-2 is the only UV telescope designed to map the emission from cool/warm gas found outside of galaxies - the circumgalactic medium - to better understand what role it plays in how galaxies evolve. The CGM is thought to be an integral, yet illusive, environment that transforms the formation and evolution of galaxies, both providing the necessary ingredients for galaxies to fuel star formation and cutting them off from that same raw material. Despite its importance, it is incredibly faint and difficult to see directly. 

FIREBall-2 is a multi-international collaboration comprising of researchers from Caltech, University of Arizona, Columbia University, University of Iowa, CNES (France), LAM (France), and Observatoire de Paris (France).