Take coding to new frontiers in space using Python
Get ready to embark on a journey of discovery, creativity, and problem-solving, with the amazing chance of having your code run on the International Space Station (ISS)! Astro Pi Mission Space Lab launches today, Monday 6 November, with a new scientific challenge for teams. In this brand-new version of Mission Space Lab, we have set teams a specific task: to calculate the speed of the ISS using live data from the Astro Pi sensors and camera modules. Watch ESA Astronaut candidate Rosemary Coogan announce this year’s challenge!
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Calculate the speed of the ISS using Astro Pi sensors
Working in teams of 2 to 6 people, young people are invited to write a Python program that captures data from the Astro Pi computers on board the ISS to calculate its speed as it orbits planet Earth. Teams must write a program that performs this task in 10 minutes, the allotted time for running each program aboard the ISS, handling data and doing calculations in real time.
The Astro Pis are two Raspberry Pi computers stationed on the ISS, each equipped with a High Quality Camera, Sense HAT add-on board, Coral machine learning accelerator, all inside a hard casing designed especially for space travel.
The Sense HAT has a number of sensors that teams can choose to use to capture data:
- A gyroscope, accelerometer, and magnetometer inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensor
- A temperature sensor
- A humidity sensor
- A pressure sensor
To make the most of the Astro Pi Mission Space Lab learning challenge, we suggest running the activity as a series of sessions that gets your team(s)' thinking about how they can use the different sensors and camera modules, and write a code that accomplishes its goal.
Getting started
One of the most exciting things about this year's Mission Space Lab is that it can be adapted based on the degree of knowledge/experience in coding of your team(s). Beginner programmers can follow the provided guide to write their program, while teams with more programming experience can come up with their own innovative solution.
Teams can use the Mission Space Lab creator guide to help design and write their programs, which contains all of the information you’ll need to write a program that can be run on the ISS. It is split into several sections for flexibility of delivery, and it includes talking points for planning and design, as well as technical instructions to support you to complete the coding of the applications in Python. We have also created a project guide which shows you how to calculate the ISS’ speed using static photos, just one of the ways that teams can approach this challenge.
Mission Space Lab is open for submissions from 6 November 2023 until 19 February 2024. Don’t miss the chance to participate in this unique space activity!
Check out the Astro Pi website for full details astro-pi.org/mission-space-lab.
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The European Astro Pi Challenge is an ESA Education project run in collaboration with the Raspberry Pi Foundation.
You can keep up with all Astro Pi news by following the Astro Pi X account (formerly Twitter) or signing up to the newsletter at astro-pi.org.