9.3.4 European Union (EU)
HEMERA, the Greek goddess of the daytime, is the name of an EU program to
integrate a large community involved in tropospheric and stratospheric balloonborne research and make the existing balloon facilities available to all European
scientists.
It involves major space agencies dealing with balloon infrastructures, companies that operate the balloons and companies that provide the related technology,
and experts in subjects such as atmospheric measurements, climate and environment related investigations, astronomy and astrophysics, space instruments validation and the testing of new technologies.
The objectives of HEMERA are to:
• Provide better and coordinated balloon access to the troposphere and stratosphere for scientific and technological research.
• Attract new users to enlarge the community accessing the balloon
infrastructure.
• Enlarge the fields of the science and technology research conducted by
balloons.
• Improve the balloon service offered to scientific and technical users
• Favor standardization, synergy and industrialization through joint
cooperation.
Fig. 9.15 Japanese Balloon Operations Center. Photo courtesy of the National
Aerospace Laboratory/ JAXA)
218 The Balloon World
HEMERA, the Greek goddess of the daytime, is the name of an EU program to
integrate a large community involved in tropospheric and stratospheric balloonborne research and make the existing balloon facilities available to all European
scientists.
It involves major space agencies dealing with balloon infrastructures, companies that operate the balloons and companies that provide the related technology,
and experts in subjects such as atmospheric measurements, climate and environment related investigations, astronomy and astrophysics, space instruments validation and the testing of new technologies.
The objectives of HEMERA are to:
• Provide better and coordinated balloon access to the troposphere and stratosphere for scientific and technological research.
• Attract new users to enlarge the community accessing the balloon
infrastructure.
• Enlarge the fields of the science and technology research conducted by
balloons.
• Improve the balloon service offered to scientific and technical users
• Favor standardization, synergy and industrialization through joint
cooperation.
Fig. 9.15 Japanese Balloon Operations Center. Photo courtesy of the National
Aerospace Laboratory/ JAXA)
218 The Balloon World