IGLUNA is aimed at supporting and accelerating the ESA_Lab@ initiative. The Swiss Space Center coordinates IGLUNA project and leads the main systems engineering activities, coaches the students teams, organises the events, and communicates to the general public.
IGLUNA is emulating European students and foster exchange through an international, interdisciplinary, and collaborative platform for demonstration of space technologies.
During the project, university students apply their knowledge to solve a technical challenge, to sustain life in an extreme environment, increasing in parallel the maturity of technologies relevant to the space domain.
During July 10-19, 15 international student teams are presenting their projects that dealt with the goal of developing “A space habitat with remote operations”. The presentations are in a online format called the Virtual Field Campaign:
The objectives of the campaign are to bring together the student projects, test them in an extreme environment, and present them to the other student teams, external experts and the general public.
Due to the Covid-19 crisis, the initially planned Field Campaign with an exhibition and control room at Verkehrshaus – Swiss Museum of Transport and a test bed on the top of Mount Pilatus in Lucerne will not be able to take place physically this summer. In spite of the current restrictions and as real space missions that have limited resources, we aim to do the best we can to ensure a proper project closure together with all involved partners.
Keeping the same dates 10-19 July, the Field Campaign will take place virtually, where all the student teams will connect from their countries to present their projects and hard work to the rest of the world. The project shows and additional space experts presentations will be live-streamed and publicly available.
aims to do a fully automated system of growth and harvest of vegetables. To do so, a machine learning algorithm determines when the vegetables are ready to be collected, then a carousel brings the vegetables in front of a robot that picks-up the vegetables and replace them with a new seed so they can start growing again. All these actions and messages are controlled by a top-level controller. The vegetables are grown using an aeroponic system which allows to reduce water and energy consumption compared to other techniques.
IGLUNA team PO2-GrowBotHub designed a fully automated system of growth and harvest of vegetables
The GrowBotHub presentation is the second in this group of three given on July 10th:
P01 MELiSSA 11:56 Complete recycling system for space missions through the biological conversion of human urine for food and bio-based oxygen production thanks to a hydroponic growing unit and a photobioreactor. Melissa Foundation, Belgium
P02 GrowBotHub 1:27:03 Automated and autonomous structure to grow and harvest vegetables in a closed loop fashion in space. EPFL, Switzerland
P06 HYDRATION II 2:41:57 Heated drill system able to extract water from different surfaces such as ice, clay, sand and concrete in order to be used on Lunar ground. Massachussets Institute of Technology (MIT), USA
Here is the latest episode in NASA’s Space to Ground weekly report on activities related to the International Space Station:
** Behind the Scenes in Space During Historic SpaceX DM-2 Launch and Docking
You saw history made with the first crewed launch and docking of the SpaceX Crew Dragon, but you didn’t see the flurry of activity on board the International Space Station…until now. Join Expedition 63 Commander Chris Cassidy and his crewmates as they prepare their cameras to document the DM-2 launch, and look over their shoulders to witness the new American spacecraft dock to the station and deliver their new crewmates.
** Independence Day Message from Astronauts in Space
Astronauts Chris Cassidy, Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken commemorate Independence Day in the United States. They explain the history of the American flag that was flown on the first and last space shuttle missions, which Doug and Bob will carry back to Earth when they return home aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft. For the latest on the International Space Station: www.nasa.gov/station
** Expedition 63 Inflight with New York Times, Fox News, and USA Today – July 7, 2020
Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 63 Commander Chris Cassidy of NASA and NASA Flight Engineers Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken discussed the progress of their mission on the orbital outpost during a series of in-flight interviews July 7 with the New York Times, Fox News and USA Today. Cassidy is in the midst of a six-and-a-half month mission on the station while Hurley and Behnken are in the second month of their mission following their launch May 30 aboard the SpaceX Dragon “Endeavour” spacecraft that resulted in the first commercial crew vehicle docking to the complex the following day.
Eleanor Sigrest, a rising senior enrolled in a dual program at Forest Park High School in Woodbridge, Virginia, and the Governor’s School at Innovation Park in Manassas, Virginia, won the competition with her experiment, Improving Fluid Management Through A Novel Microgravity Slosh Mitigation Technique, which will be the first AIAA-sponsored payload to go into flight.
“Ever since I can remember,” she said, “I’ve looked at the stars and known I want to go to space. I want to be the first person on Mars. Through research, I feel I better my personal knowledge and contribute to a community, all sharing the same goal of exploring beyond our Earth and developing the technologies necessary to get to Mars – technologies that will also benefit all humankind.”
In her quest to be the first person on Mars, Eleanor has been conducting independent research on rockets since middle school. She has won a host of science competitions, beginning with the grand prize, regional level, in her first science fair when she was in fourth grade, and including the Broadcom MASTERS Samueli Foundation prize at the national level with her experiment, “Rockets and Nozzles and Thrust, OH MY!”
“Design/Build/Launch is the perfect next step to complement my research of a novel microgravity slosh technique that could simplify spacecraft systems, increase payload capacity and save the space industry billions of dollars,” she said. “This opportunity provides me the chance to further this research and prepare for my own launch to Mars.”
AIAA Executive Director Dan Dumbacher said,
“If aerospace is to continue pushing boundaries to create a better world for us all, we need students like Eleanor Sigrest to be inspired to take up the challenge. Congratulations, Eleanor, on being the first winner of Design/Build/Launch! You inspire us!”
[ Dr. Erika Wagner, Payload Sales Director at Blue Origin, said,]
“Pushing the boundaries of technology are essential to charting our future course in space,” … “Eleanor’s passion to explore the unexplored and determination to bring clarity to science we don’t yet understand are unmatched, and we can’t wait to see how her experiment performs in space. We’re humbled to inspire students to pursue careers in STEM through payloads on our reusable New Shepard vehicle and our non-profit, Club for the Future.”
Eleanor has made presentations at the 2016 Broadcom MASTERS Science and Engineering Project Showcase in Washington, DC, and the 2017 World Science Festival in New York, NY. She leads workshops for middle-school girls, advocating for greater representation by women in STEM fields. She has been featured on NBC’s TODAY program in a “Girls Changing the World” segment and is a lifetime fellow of the American Junior Academy of Science. In May, Eleanor received the first-place AIAA “Look Up!” Award presented at the 2020 Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF).
A fully reusable New Shepard rocket lifts off for a suborbital trip to space. Credits: Blue Origin
Design/Build/Launch (DBL) Competition
The DBL competition is open to high school students and designed to promote student engagement in microgravity and/or space technology research. Each proposal is composed of two parts: each entrant designed an experimental payload to be launched on Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket and described outreach plans to engage the public with the promise and excitement of space.
Eleanor’s DBL proposal was selected from among entries received from students from across the United States.
Eleanor will receive a $1,000 grant to prepare her work to fly on a future New Shepard flight. She will report on the results of her experiment at 2021 ASCEND, AIAA’s event dedicated to the space ecosystem.
About Blue Origin: For information on Blue Origin, visit www.blueorigin.com and follow @BlueOrigin on Twitter and Instagram. To learn more about Club for the Future and our space mail program, visit clubforfuture.org and follow @ClubForFuture on Twitter and Instagram.
About AIAA: The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit www.aiaa.org, or follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
About ASCEND: ASCEND stands for Accelerating Space Commerce, Exploration and New Discovery and is designed to bring together technical and business leaders to solve problems that affect the entire planet and beyond. Powered by AIAA, the ASCEND event will happen online 16–18 November 2020. For more information, please visit www.ascend.events, or follow ASCEND on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn.
A sampling of recent articles, press releases, etc. related to student and amateur CubeSat / SmallSat projects and programs (find previous smallsat roundups here):
** Generation and detection of quantum entanglement in a CubeSat in orbit successfully demonstrated in a project led by National University of Singapore. The SpooQy Lab in Singapore built the SpooQy-1 CubeSat, which was deployed into orbit from the ISS on June 17, 2019.
… quantum mechanical phenomenon known as entanglement is essential to many quantum communications applications. However, creating a global network for entanglement distribution isn’t possible with optical fibers because of the optical losses that occur over long distances. Equipping small, standardized satellites in space with quantum instrumentation is one way to tackle this challenge in a cost-effective manner.
As a first step, the researchers needed to demonstrate that a miniaturized photon source for quantum entanglement could stay intact through the stresses of launch and operate successfully in the harsh environment of space within a satellite that can provide minimal energy. To accomplish this, they exhaustively examined every component of the photon-pair source used to generate quantum entanglement to see if it could be made smaller or more rugged.
SpooQy-1 cut-away model shows the avionics and location of the SPEQS-2 polarization-entangled photon-pair experiment. Credits: SpooQy Lab
“At each stage of development, we were actively conscious of the budgets for mass, size and power,” said [lead author Aitor] Villar [of Univ. of Singapore]. “By iterating the design through rapid prototyping and testing, we arrived at a robust, small-form factor package for all the off-shelf components needed for an entangled photon-pair source.”
The new miniaturized photon-pair source consists of a blue laser diode that shines on nonlinear crystals to create pairs of photons. Achieving high-quality entanglement required a complete redesign of the mounts that align the nonlinear crystals with high precision and stability.
BHUTAN-1 has been developed by Bhutanese engineers at the Kyushu Institute of Technology as part of their Master’s Degree under the BIRDS-2 Project.
BHUTAN-1 is capable of transmitting two types of data- mission data and housekeeping data. The data is received at the ground station located at the Ministry of Information and Communication compound, Thimphu.
Mission data are camera images captured from space. Cheki Dorji, engineer with the Division of Telecom and Space (DTS) said that downloading images from the satellite was not feasible since Bhutan-1 satellite could not uplink the data from ground station to space to harness the image. It was the limitation of CubeSat built under the BIRDS-2 project, he said.
However, housekeeping data is transmitted from the satellite every day and studied. The status of the satellite such as its battery, temperature and its parts are known as housekeeping data.
The Deputy Executive Engineer with DTS, Kiran Kumar Pradhan said that although the capability of the satellite was limited, the function of small CubeSat was similar to a bigger satellite which gave them insight on how a bigger satellite works.
A sampling of recent articles, videos, and images dealing with space transport (find previous roundups here):
[ Update: The launch was scrubbed due to thunderstorms in the area around the Cape. Another attempt will be made this Saturday, July 11th during a window between 10:49 am to 11:00 am EDT. Currently, the forecast shows a 60% chance of acceptable conditions for liftoff during the window.
** Delayed Starlink-9 mission now set for liftoff on Wednesday at 11:59 am EDT (1559 GMT) from Pad 39A at Cape Kennedy Space Center. The Falcon 9’s launch date was postponed several times in June and then moved till after the launch of a USAF GPS satellite. The rocket will carry 57 Starlink broadband Internet satellites and 2 BlackSky earth imaging satellites into polar orbit.
An issue was experienced today during Rocket Lab’s launch that caused the loss of the vehicle. We are deeply sorry to the customers on board Electron. The issue occurred late in the flight during the 2nd stage burn. More information will be provided as it becomes available.
The payload consisted of seven satellites including a Canon Electronics CE-SAT-IB imaging satellite, five Planet SuperDove imaging smallsats, and the Faraday-1 6U CubeSat from In-Space Missions.
** China launches two rockets within three days. The first rocket was a Long March 4B rocket launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Lunch Center in northern China on July 2nd with a Gaofen remote sensing satellite as the primary payload. Also on board was the Xibaipo (BY 70-2) CubeSat, intended for science and education related tasks.
The second rocket was a Long March 2D that lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi desert carrying the Shiyan-6 satellite on July 5th. The Shiyan-6 is described as a remote sensing technology development system but is believed by analysts outside of China as a military reconnaissance satellite.
** Israel launched a reconnaissance satellite into orbit with a Shavit rocket. As with previous Israeli satellites, the rocket launched the Ofek 16 satellite towards the west over the Mediterranean Sea and into a retrograde orbit.
Virgin Galactic today [July.2.2020] announced that SpaceShipTwo’s cabin interior design reveal will take place on July 28, 2020. The virtual event will be streamed live on YouTube. In celebration of this milestone, the Company will also be announcing plans to bring immersive experiences of Virgin Galactic’s spaceflight and cabin interior to aspiring astronauts around the world.
The unveiling of the spaceship cabin design marks the latest milestone towards Virgin Galactic’s operational readiness and will accentuate the Company’s focus on using inspired and bold design to transform the entire customer journey. While the cabin interior has been created to integrate seamlessly with every step of that journey, it is also the design centerpiece, providing safety without distraction, quietly absorbing periods of sensory intensity and offering each astronaut a level of intimacy required for personal discovery and transformation.
The live-streamed unveiling will feature a virtual walkthrough of the cabin, curated by the multi-disciplinary team which has striven to ensure that every detail of its design works to provide an unparalleled and safe consumer experience.
NASA and Boeing have completed major reviews of the company’s uncrewed Orbital Flight Test in December 2019 and are continuing with preparations to refly the test, designated Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2), to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
“NASA and Boeing have completed a tremendous amount of work reviewing the issues experienced during the uncrewed flight test of Starliner,” said Steve Jurczyk, associate administrator at NASA. “Ultimately, everything we’ve found will help us improve as we move forward in the development and testing of Starliner, and in our future work with commercial industry as a whole.”
The joint NASA-Boeing Independent Review team completed the final assessment into the intermittent space-to-ground communication issue detected during the first uncrewed Orbital Flight Test of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. The review team previously completed its investigation into the two other primary anomalies experienced during the test.
No date has been set yet for liftoff of the OFT-2 mission.
SpaceX has added a second new Falcon 9 booster to its rocket fleet in just one month after B1060 safely returned to shore aboard drone ship Just Read The Instructions (JRTI) on July 4th.
Exactly 31 days prior, Falcon 9 booster B1058 sailed into Port Canaveral aboard drone ship Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY) on June 3rd after becoming the first private rocket in history to launch astronauts into orbit. Prior to B1058’s successful May 30th launch and landing debut, SpaceX’s fleet of available flightworthy boosters appeared to be just three strong, comprised of B1049, B1051, and B1059. Supposedly (relatively) easy to reconfigure into regular Falcon 9 boosters, twice-flown Falcon Heavy side boosters B1052 and B1053 remain wildcards that seem unlikely to re-enter circulation anytime soon.
In other words, SpaceX has grown its fleet of flight-proven Falcon 9 boosters by almost 70% in a single month, undoubtedly bringing with it some welcome sighs of relief for the second half of the company’s 2020 launch manifest. Given just how ambitious SpaceX’s plans are for the next six months, both boosters are set to be invaluable assets in the near term.
After the SN5 Starship prototype passed its cryogenic pressure tests last week, work continued this week on the launch platform and on installation of a Raptor engine. It had once been expected that SN5 would get 3 engines. However, it appears that SN5 will do the one engine powered test hop that was previously planned for the SN4 prototype. Before it had a chance to fly, SN4 was destroyed by a huge explosion from the ignition of methane that poured out when a quick-release attachment at the base of the vehicle failed following an engine test firing.
According to the current road closure schedule, the earliest we’ll see engine test firings for the SN5 is Friday July 10th.
A huge “high bay” building is now under construction. It will be used for assembly of Super Heavy Booster prototypes. An awesome “Bluezilla” crane was assembled over the last week and it has begun lifting structural sections into place.: SpaceX Super Heavy ‘high bay’ construction begins in South Texas – Teslarati.
Border Report was told the FAA had not approved significant plans that SpaceX has for the facility since the company told the agency it had switched projects and is now using this facility to develop a new, massive spacecraft to travel to Mars, called the Starship. The FAA also said it has begun a new environmental review of the company’s new plans.
“The current testing falls within the current EIS. However, a full-scale Starship launch site falls outside the scope of the 2014 EIS. The FAA is in the early stages of an environmental review. Any proposal must meet the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the FAA’s policies and procedures for conducting a NEPA review,” an FAA official wrote in an email to Border Report on Friday.
****** July 2: SpaceX Boca Chica – Bluezilla Rises! Super Heavy High Bay Builder – NASASpaceflight – YouTube
The biggest crane to arrive at Boca Chica – which is some achievement based on previous big cranes – came to life on Thursday. “Bluezilla” will help build the new Super Heavy High Bay. Video and Pictures from Mary (@BocaChicaGal). Edited by Jack Beyer (@TheJackBeyer)
****** July 3: SpaceX Boca Chica – Raptor SN27 set for Starship SN5 Installation – NASASpaceflight – YouTube
Raptor engine SN27 has arrived for installation into Starship SN5 for the latest test campaign. Meanwhile, work continues on the Super Heavy pad and the Nosecones are multiplying. Video and Pictures from Mary (@BocaChicaGal). Edited by Brady Kenniston (@TheFavoritis
****** July 4: SpaceX Boca Chica – SN27 Raptor Installed – Mystery Dome in work – NASASpaceflight – YouTube
Starship SN5 now has her SN27 Raptor installed while work goes on around SpaceX Boca Chica, include the sighting of a mystery dome for a test tank or future Starship. Video and Pictures from Mary (@BocaChicaGal). Edited by Brady Kenniston (@TheFavoritist)
****** July 5: SpaceX Boca Chica – Bluezilla Stretches Its Limbs – Boca Drive Past – NASASpaceflight – YouTube
In today’s Starship update: the Manitowoc Model 18000 Crane (AKA Bluezilla) stretches its limbs, the Mystery Dome sees some progress, work on SN5 with Raptor 27 installed continues ahead of engine testing, and Mary treats us all to a Sunday drive past Boca Chica for a checkup on the entire site. Video and Pictures from Mary (@BocaChicaGal). Edited by Jack Beyer (@TheJackBeyer)
****** July 6: SpaceX Boca Chica – Build Site Bonanza – SN5 Nearly Ready – NASASpaceflight – YouTube
It’s a Build Site bonanza in today’s Boca Chica Update. A new ring was moved into the fabrication tents, the Manitowoc 18000 crane started off its work on the site with some light lifting, some interesting parts were delivered and work on SN5 and Raptor SN27 continued. Video and Pictures from Mary (@BocaChicaGal). Edited by Jack Beyer (@TheJackBeyer)
** Webcast rocket reports:
**** Starship updates with SN5 Pressure Test, SpaceX GPS III, Mars Perseverance Rover Launch Date Slips – Marcus House
Yet again, another huge week of space news. We have some Starship updates with the SN5 Pressure Test, SpaceX GPS III mission went off perfectly, but the Mars Perseverance Rover Launch Date Slips close to the end of the Mars launch window. The starship SN5 has been pressured up this week with liquid nitrogen getting ready for a static fire test quite soon we hope. We’ve got a bunch of news and updates around the development of the Space Launch System, SpaceX had another incredible launch with the GPS III mission during the week. Flawless yet again. A few updates on the Crew Dragon Demo 2 mission to share and also we have our fingers crossed that the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover mission will get across the line before the end of the launch window to Mars after yet another delay in the schedule.
**** What’s hiding in SpaceX’s Starship? + SpaceX Starship – Why are they building it in a scrap yard? – What about it!?
The successful Commercial Crew launch by SpaceX and NASA has forever changed spaceflight. Now, for the first time, there is a clear path to sending humans to Mars. Aspiring Martian Colonist Dr. Ryan MacDonald charts the course towards the first human missions to the Red Planet.
During July 10-19, 15 international student teams are presenting their projects that dealt with the goal of developing “A space habitat with remote operations”. The presentations are in a online format called the Virtual Field Campaign:
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