Remote data communications and command system

Scientific ballooning missions in the continental United States have traditionally been limited in flight time due to the loss of local telemetry capability as the payload drifts beyond the horizon. A Remote Data Communications & Command System has been developed by the NSBF which allows both the recovery and display of limited real-time data and complete command control of a balloon payload that is within the telemetry horizon of a remote station. The general capabilities of this system are discussed here from the standpoint of two virtual systems which can be used independently or together as a single system.