•New
Share
It is the only experiment from outside the USA to have been chosen for the NASA's Flight Opportunities programme on sub-orbital space flight
A UPC experiment once again aboard a NASA rocket
NASA launched, from Spaceport America (New Mexico, USA), a sub-orbital rocket containing an experimental system designed and assembled at the Microgravity Laboratory of the Department of Applied Physics at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), located in the Castelldefels School of Telecommunications and Aerospace Engineering (EETAC). The launch was scheduled for 20 October, but due to weather conditions it was postponed until 23 October. The aims of the experiment are to improve the control of fuel and other two-phase (liquid-gas) fluids in the tanks of spacecraft in order to minimise risk and optimise spacecraft performance during space missions.
23/10/2014
This is the second time that an experiment designed at the UPC's Microgravity Laboratory, located at the Castelldefels School of Telecommunications and Aerospace Engineering (EETAC), has been selected to be launched aboard a rocket by the USA's National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), within the Flight Opportunities programme. The rocket was launched on Thursday 23 October between 6 and 8.30 a.m. local time (between 2 and 4.30 p.m. in Spain). The two experiments form part of the doctoral thesis of researcher Anna Garcia Sabaté supervised by professor Ricard González-Cinca at the Department of Applied Physics. These experiments correspond to a project by Professor González-Cinca that NASA selected in 2011 for a total of eight sub-orbital flights.
The UPC's project is the only sub-orbital flight experiment from outside the USA to be selected for NASA's Flight Opportunities programme. It is also the only team among those selected that has been offered the opportunity to participate in two consecutive flights.
The experimental system used during flight was substantially different to the one used last year. The experiment studies the control of fuel injection and bubble movement in microgravity conditions using ultrasound. The purpose of the technology that is being developed in the Microgravity Laboratory is to control the dynamics of two-phase (liquid-gas) fluids in spacecraft systems (fuel tanks, etc.) in order to minimise risk and optimise spacecraft performance during space missions.
This project is part of the activities of the Microgravity Laboratory, which designs and tests systems for space applications on different platforms (sub-orbital flights, parabolic flights, drop towers) of the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA.
Flight Opportunities is an initiative by NASA that fosters the development of the commercial sub-orbital transport industry by offering the right conditions for testing the use of new space technologies. These sub-orbital flights provide researchers with approximately five minutes of microgravity in which they can test their experiments and improve their technology. Projects are selected according to NASA's interest in using the proposed technology in future space missions.
The sub-orbital flights in the Flight Opportunities programme are performed with vehicles manufactured by private companies such as UP Aerospace, Virgin Galactic and others. The rocket in which the UPC's experiment will travel reaches an altitude of 130 km, that is, 30 km above the Kármán line, which is considered to be the boundary between the atmosphere and outer space.
The UPC's project is the only sub-orbital flight experiment from outside the USA to be selected for NASA's Flight Opportunities programme. It is also the only team among those selected that has been offered the opportunity to participate in two consecutive flights.
The experimental system used during flight was substantially different to the one used last year. The experiment studies the control of fuel injection and bubble movement in microgravity conditions using ultrasound. The purpose of the technology that is being developed in the Microgravity Laboratory is to control the dynamics of two-phase (liquid-gas) fluids in spacecraft systems (fuel tanks, etc.) in order to minimise risk and optimise spacecraft performance during space missions.
This project is part of the activities of the Microgravity Laboratory, which designs and tests systems for space applications on different platforms (sub-orbital flights, parabolic flights, drop towers) of the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA.
Flight Opportunities programme
Flight Opportunities is an initiative by NASA that fosters the development of the commercial sub-orbital transport industry by offering the right conditions for testing the use of new space technologies. These sub-orbital flights provide researchers with approximately five minutes of microgravity in which they can test their experiments and improve their technology. Projects are selected according to NASA's interest in using the proposed technology in future space missions.The sub-orbital flights in the Flight Opportunities programme are performed with vehicles manufactured by private companies such as UP Aerospace, Virgin Galactic and others. The rocket in which the UPC's experiment will travel reaches an altitude of 130 km, that is, 30 km above the Kármán line, which is considered to be the boundary between the atmosphere and outer space.
Follow us on Twitter
