The only thing that would float are pieces of the balloon envelope.
They payload and associated framing and the solar panels would all sink.
There’s nothing of value to retrieve anyway, after being blown up by an AIM-9X Sidewinder, then plummeting 65,000 feet and slamming into the ocean surface.
1) Sidewinder had an inert warhead.
2) Sidewinder hit the balloon, not the payload.
Still, a long drop.
“There’s nothing of value to retrieve anyway, after being blown up by an AIM-9X Sidewinder, then plummeting 65,000 feet and slamming into the ocean surface.”
They recovered enough of the Challenger orbiter to pretty much reconstruct it.
Probably not. The encryption gear and the command-control systems were likely wired with self-destruct packages that would obliterate them. It would not take much to do that.
Then again, a technician could have gotten sloppy during the prelaunch checkouts and forgotten to arm or install a self-destruct package. Or it could have failed to activate.
Could be worth a look if it is not too hard to pick up the pieces. Might be embarrassing to find that the system is a Chinese knockoff of an American design with a few improvements.
The Air Force popped the balloon. The payload dropped into the ocean and was picked up by the Navy. The same way we retrieve astronaut capsules. You are assuming there is nothing of value. How do you know that? Are you related to Joe Biden?