So Aerocene is an art investigation, a social experiment,
an educational project, an exercise in collaboration
and community-building. But how much of it is about
scientific innovation? ‘There are a few balloon projects
in the stratosphere, but not many just use the heat of
the sun,’ says Vogler. ‘The French’s CNES agency had
infrarouge balloons that were also heated by the sun
and able to fly overnight, but they stopped the project.’
Aerocene is also developing a pollution monitor that
can be attached to its Explorers (a project led by the
Buenos Aires-based Joaquín Eczurra), and encouraging
meteorological stations to switch from helium balloons
to fossil-free alternatives. The fact that helium was
used in the Around the World sculpture ‘was a special
case’, says Vogler, ‘because following the legacy of
CNES, we need to find out how to keep flying
overnight and collect data’. The eventual goal is a
multi-day aerosolar flight without helium. Also, Vogler
says, Aerocene community members are trying ‘to
motivate people to build their own devices’ instead of
docking onto the research of big companies, thus
enabling people to feel like they can make a difference.
It is late afternoon. We leave the team earnestly
discussing a rescue mission across the lake using
pedalos from the boat hire shop, and head back to
Berlin. When our grandchildren ask where we were
at the dawn of the age of the Aerocene, we can say
that we were there – and it was fun. ∂ aerocene.orgThe Aerocene Explorer is tethered to the ground while the team attaches to it a recycled plastic
bottle containing a Raspberry Pi camera, atmospheric sensors and a solar battery pack∑ 361