ESA title
Exp 60 crew eat dinner on International Space Station
Science & Exploration

Space Station science: learning from Luca

16/09/2019 4771 views 43 likes
ESA / Science & Exploration / Human and Robotic Exploration

There is plenty of science on the boil at the International Space Station – including an experiment literally designed to expand our knowledge of the boiling process.

Get a glimpse into the experiments ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano has been working on over the past two weeks in this fortnightly spotlight on Space Station science.

Easy as Astro Pi

Play
$video.data_map.short_description.content

The European Astro Pi Challenge is a school project run by ESA in collaboration with the Raspberry Pi Foundation. It gives young people the opportunity to write code that runs on mini-computers on board the International Space Station. This year, Luca is the European Astro Pi challenge ambassador and on 12 September he launched the challenge with a video outlining the details and calling for submissions.

Keeping it fluid

Multiscale Boiling experiment on Space Station
Multiscale Boiling experiment on Space Station

As mentioned in a previous Space Station science update, there is new research bubbling up in Europe’s Columbus laboratory. Luca installed the Multiscale Boiling experiment (affectionately known as Rubi) in the Fluid Science Laboratory last month. This is now in full swing and generated its first bubble under controlled conditions.

While the bubbles form, a temperature sensor measures bubble temperature while a high-speed camera records how the bubbles behave and an infrared camera tracks the temperature of the heated region. Scientists will observe and quantify the effect of external forces on the boiling process.

Reconfiguring the Rubi Multiscale Boiling Experiment
Reconfiguring the Rubi Multiscale Boiling Experiment

In the weightlessness of space, boiling takes place in slow motion and produces larger bubbles. This allows scientists to observe and measure effects that are too fast and too small on Earth. With this insight and more accurate calculations of the boiling process, industry can produce better and more compact products such as laptops on Earth.

Rubi will run more than 600 tests during its five-month stay on the Space Station.

Astronauts as test subjects

Acoustic Diagnostics
Acoustic Diagnostics

When it comes to a space mission, astronauts truly do give it their all – that includes participating in experiments where they are the guinea pig for space research. Of the more than 50 European experiments Luca is involved in, 12 are classed as human research.

Two of these are new experiments from the Italian space agency ASI: Acoustic Diagnostics and NutrISS. Recently Luca carried out his second in-space sessions of both.

NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan is also lending his ears to the Acoustic Diagnostics experiment, which aims to understand how life in microgravity and on the International Space Station impacts an astronaut’s hearing. In order to do this, the experiment monitors what are known as optoacoustic emissions (OAEs).

OAEs are caused by the motion of inner ear hairs in response to auditory stimulation. That means the measurement is passive. Astronauts put on headphones with a special inner-ear tip that simultaneously plays sound and measures their ears’ reactions.

In the next episode of ESA Explores, we will focus on the different sounds of life on Station. This includes a special snippet of the sounds Luca hears during the Acoustic Diagnostics experiment so make sure you tune in via your favourite podcast platform.

  

 

Looking ahead

Soyuz MS-15 prime and backup crew in Baikonur
Soyuz MS-15 prime and backup crew in Baikonur

With the next Soyuz launch scheduled for 25 September, it is not long before Luca and his crewmates will welcome three new arrivals to their orbital outpost.

Russian cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka, NASA astronaut Jessica Meir and United Arab Emirates (UAE) astronaut Hazza Al Mansouri will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazahkstan and are currently in quarantine in Star City, Russia as they prepare for the mission ahead.

Related Articles

Day and night
Science & Exploration

A space cocktail of science, bubbles and sounds

19/08/2019 4933 views 78 likes
Read
Luca performs GRIP experiment on the International Space Station
Science & Exploration

Two weeks of science and Beyond

05/08/2019 4896 views 51 likes
Read
Expedition 60 crewmembers in front of a mural of the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz mission
Science & Exploration

Preparing science Beyond Earth

08/07/2019 3243 views 57 likes
Read
Luca, Drew and Alexander take a selfie with their Soyuz spacecraft
Science & Exploration

Beyond hatch opening – watch live

28010 views 145 likes
Read
Members of Expedition 60 pose with their Soyuz launcher
Science & Exploration

Europe celebrates a launch and a landing

17/07/2019 1864 views 16 likes
Read
Science & Exploration

Luca Parmitano returns to the International Space Station

21/07/2019 7241 views 92 likes
Read
Luca
Science & Exploration

ESA launches new podcast for Beyond mission

20/06/2019 4962 views 55 likes
Read
Science & Exploration

Luca Parmitano goes Beyond

27/09/2018 8221 views 46 likes
Read
Luca spacewalk
Science & Exploration

ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano to be Space Station commander …

31/05/2018 11192 views 94 likes
Read
CAVES-X1
Science & Exploration

Exploring underground with a colliding drone

22/05/2017 14804 views 109 likes
Read
Matthias, Luca and Pedro
Science & Exploration

One small step for a geologist

13/11/2016 4963 views 32 likes
Read
Waterwalk
Science & Exploration

Luca Parmitano: this year’s Captain NEEMO

06/07/2015 6356 views 37 likes
Read
Luca Parmitano
Science & Exploration

Chance to meet ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano

14/02/2013 2633 views 2 likes
Read
Soyuz TMA-09M, Volare mission patch, 2013
Science & Exploration

Luca Parmitano flying high

07/09/2012 3290 views 6 likes
Read
Luca Parmitano
Science & Exploration

ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano assigned to 2013 Space Station…

18/02/2011 4101 views 3 likes
Read
Luca spacewalk
Science & Exploration

Luca Parmitano

193386 views 535 likes
Read
Dragon capture
Science & Exploration

Learning how to catch a spacecraft

04/06/2012 2108 views 4 likes
Read
Soyuz MS-11
Science & Exploration

Lung health, algae and radiation research on Space Station

24/06/2019 2929 views 31 likes
Read

Related Links