UHart Students Take Eclipse Research to New Heights in Spain

For Serrano, the project became an opportunity to take on responsibilities that grew throughout the summer. He began by learning the fundamentals of the tracking hardware used by the team. By the time the team arrived in Spain, he had become the Telemetry Officer, responsible for tracking the balloon during flight and helping recover the payloads after they landed.

He worked with APRS, SPOT Trace, and Iridium tracking systems, ran launch predictions to help determine the best launch location, and ultimately took the lead on helium fill operations.

The experience required more than technical knowledge. Working with students and faculty from two universities taught the team the importance of communication, trust, and flexibility, particularly when timelines were tight and plans changed at the last minute.

"My teammates were incredible," Serrano said. "We really stayed in sync and kept things running smoothly. None of it would have come together without our professors, either. Their guidance and mentorship throughout the project meant a lot."

The trip also offered an experience far beyond the science and engineering of the mission. Serrano said interacting with the local community in Spain was one of the highlights of the trip, describing the people he met as incredibly warm and welcoming. "It really felt like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, both scientifically and personally," he said.

Now back at UHart, the team is continuing to analyze the data collected by both payloads and is building a presentation to showcase its findings. As for Serrano, he hopes to stay involved in future missions, potentially helping develop an ozone sensor or exploring how Starlink could be integrated with a Raspberry Pi to livestream a future eclipse directly from a balloon.

What began as a summer research project ultimately gave Serrano and his teammates the opportunity to put engineering principles into practice, collaborate across universities and cultures, contribute to scientific research, and turn a childhood ambition into reality.