Hermes: Hemera Returning Messenger

Abstract

A common issue for long-duration balloon flights in the polar area is high bit rate data transferring. Just a few hours after launch balloons are nor reachable with direct radio link, and often satellite links are not fast enough to allow the necessary transfer rate or, simply, too expensive. For this reason, stratospheric balloon borne experiments carry out on-board data recording. Data recorded need to be recovered after termination, which is, sometimes, a slow, difficult and expensive task. Not always it is easy or possible to reach the landing site, especially during the polar winter. The aim of the project is to provide an autonomous glider capable of physically carrying the data from the stratospheric platform to a recovery point on the ground. This can also transport physical objects (like air samples) collected at float or along the flight. We estimate that an electrical motorglider released in the stratosphere can fly for several hundreds of kilometers. The glider is installed on the balloon payload through a remotely controlled release system, and connected with the main computer to receive data and the geographic coordinates of the recovery point. The glider trajectory can be monitored with Iridium SBD (Short Burst Data), and simple commands can be issued as well as using Iridium.