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Gallery
5th November: The AstEx team are INCREDIBLY happy. We gathered lots of great data, gained a massive amount of experience throughout the project and on top of that we are now privileged enough to be among the few people who have felt the most wonderful sensations of zero-gravity!! :-D
Thank you so much to everyone who supported us over the last year!!
5th November, 1pm: We come back down to Earth for the very last time of this campaign
5th November, 11am: The fun, oops I mean the science, begins!
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
5th November, 10.30am: Setting up for the beginning of the parabolas (bad weather means it's a bit of a rougher ride today)
 
 
5th November, 10am: We're on our way to the Mediterranean for flight 3 (still with some side-effects!)
5th November, 9.30am: The experimenters for flight 3 make their way to the aircraft
 
5th November, 9am: They suffer badley from the side-effects again
 
5th November, 8.30am: Time for Naomi and Tomi to get medicated for the third and final flight
4th November, 3pm: We had a big problem when we went to change the shear cell. The new lid/plate we were planning to use (constant volume lid) had bonded to a spare shear cell.
First we tried forcing it...
 
Then we tried un-screwing parts....
Then we tried heating it with boiling water....
And finally we tried hitting it with a mallet....!
Nothing worked so we were forced to fly a different experiment than we had intended. This is a design issue that will have to be rectified in the future. Full story on our Blog.
4th November, 2pm: During the flight de-briefing Ben tells everyone how well the flight went for us while Tomi fights against the medication side-effects
 
For a summary of how the second flight went see the update on our Blog.
4th November, After Landing: The boys with the ESA Education team
4th November, After Parabola 30: Fly your Thesis Flight 2 team picture
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Photo: A. Le Floc'h (ESA)
4th November, Parabolas 0-30: Tomi loves microgravity, the experiment functions very well and Ben doesn't feel sick (until parabola 25). Well done boys!!!
 
 
Above Photos: A. Le Floc'h (ESA)
 
 
  
  
4th November, 10.15am: Tomi's first ever parabola
Tomi's first microgravity experience: "The sensations are hard to describe, even hard to believe! You first feel like you are being sucked down by the ground, even your face changes. Then, rushing into microgravity is like diving in a freezing cold pool: it leaves you breathless..."
4th November, 10am: Tomi prepares himself for his first parabola while Ben prepares the experiment
 
4th November, 8.55am: They make their way to the plane with the other student teams
 
4th November, 8.45am: Ben fluctuates between hyperactivity, anxiety and fatigue (quite entertaining to watch!)
 
4th November, 8.30am: They queue up to see the doctor and then the nurse. Both take the injection but Ben fails to convince the doctor to up his dose.
 
4th November, 8am: The boys arrive at Novespace and get ready for the flight. It's Tomi's first flight so he's a little excited!
 
3rd November, 5.30pm: Tomi and Ben rehearse their preferred poses and walks for tomorrow! (Looking good is just as important as the science... ;-) )
 
3rd November, 4.30pm: Tomi and Ben rehearse procedures for flight 2.
 
3rd November, 3.30pm: We modify the experimental set-up for the following days flight. Shear cell is changed from 4mm to 3mm beads and the laptops are exchanged to try to iron out some of the problems we encountered in Flight 1.
 
3rd November, 2pm: Flight de-briefing
 
For a summary of how the first flight went and the problems encountered with the experiment see the update on our Blog.
3rd November, 1pm: Coming back down to Earth again after such an incredible flight
 
3rd November, After Parabola 30: Fly your Thesis Flight 1 team picture
Photo: A. Le Floc'h (ESA)
3rd November, Parabolas 0-30: They had a few problems at the beginning of the flight but managed to collect lots of good data whilst having a lot of fun (one of them at least.... ;-) )
 
 
 
All above photos: C. Minetti
3rd November, Parabolas 0-30: Naomi was feeling fine so in between controlling the cameras and motor she was a little more adventurous (not always intentionally...!)
 
 
Bottom right photo: A. Le Floc'h (ESA)
Naomi's first microgravity experience: "That very first transition from 2g to 0g could be the single most incredible experience of my life so far"
3rd November, Parabolas 0-30: Ben's parabola routine consists of lying flat during 2g, floating beside the rack in 0g, falling sharply to the floor, lying flat again in 2g and finally shaking the shear cell in 1g
 
 Photo: A. Le Floc'h (ESA)
 
Ben's first microgravity experience: "Unlike anything I have ever imagined"
3rd November, 10.30am: The long awaited moment of the start of the parabola sequence arrives!!!
 
Above Photos: A. Le Floc'h (ESA)
 
3rd November, 10am: Preparation of the experiment and of ourselves before the first parabola begins (Luckily Naomi starts to feel better!)
 
 
3rd November, 9.30am: Whilst inside the plane Naomi is still feeling the side-effects of the injection and Ben is trying to guess how soon he will need to use his 'toilet'
 
3rd November, 9.30am: The Zero-G aircraft takes off leaving Tomi and Simon behind
 
3rd November, 9.00am: We make our way to the aircraft (posing for many pictures with the other student teams on the way...!)
 
3rd November, 8.30am: Getting ready to board the aircraft. Not so easy due to the drug side-effects which included tunnel vision, drowsiness, dizziness and dry mouth. Naomi suffered from all of them and Ben simply became hyper-active!!
 
3rd November, 8am: Time for the anti-sickness medication - we both chose to taken the injection
 
2nd November, 5pm: Ben and Naomi are ready to fly on the first flight of the ESA 51st Parabolic Flight Campaign!!! :-D
 
2nd November, 3pm: Ben presents the AstEx team and experiment to the other experimenters
 
2nd November, 2pm: ESA 51st Parabolic Flight Campaign Safety Briefing
Introduction is given by Jean-Francois Clervoy (Astronaut and Chairman of Novespace)
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The pilot explains what will happen on the flight and how we achieve microgravity conditions
 
The lead of the CEV Team (aka "Room Service") explains the normal, safety and emergency procedures
 
 
Smoke masks are in case of fire due to an experiment, sick bags are to be carried with us at all times and as there are no toilets on board we must bring our own with us!!
The Novespace doctor then tells us why we are likely to fill up the sick bags, the other 12 possible symptoms of microgravity motion sickness and the recommended drugs we should take!
 
2nd November, 10.30am: Ben and Naomi get their flight suits as they are going to fly on the first flight!
  
2nd November, 9.30am: The FINAL safety review. Everything was fine!
 
2nd November, 8.30am: Last minute additions before the FINAL safety review. Velcro to attach the gloves and pen and a clipboard and paper for taking notes.
 
31st October: Team building cultural visit of Bordeaux with the other student teams
 
30th October, afternoon: We add the safety straps to keep us in place during the zero-g phase of the parabolas so we don't float away from our experiment.
30th October, 12pm: However they do ask us to add an extra strap to secure the shear cell during take off and landing (We were so perfect they had to think hard of something to complain about.... ;-) ).
 
Left: Before, Right; After
30th October, 11.30am: Despite how nervous we looked (especially Ben!) they are very happy with the AstEx experiment!! (Notice the smile and the blank space beside our experiment number on his clipboard! :-D)
30th October, 11am : Everyone tries shaking the cell to make sure the boys aren't going to break their backs doing this 30 times per flight!
 
30th October, 10.30am: We have the CEV Safety pre-review (final review on Monday 2nd Nov).
 
  
 
29th October, evening: If the CEV Safety review doesn't go well tomorrow maybe they would let us do our experiment here instead..... :-)
 
29th and 31st October : Training in Bordeaux!
 
 
 
29th October, afternoon: Naomi fights with the particle tracking algorithm, Ben extracts images from the flight rehearsal and Tomi.....
 
29th October, morning: We perform a full flight rehearsal to pratice procedures, ensure the data is taken and saved smoothly and to go over emergency (vomit-related) scenarios!
 
 
 
Bottom Left: We will have to lie down or at least never move during the 2g phases
Bottom Right: Can one experimenter cope if the other is ill?? (Yes, probably!)
28th October: A few shots of the Zero-G plane (the weather got a little better in the afternoon...)
 
 
 
28th October: Some pictures of our experiment at the end of the day
 
28th October, afternoon: Naomi lends a helping hand and makes up a schedule for the experimental procedure on the flights
 
 
28th October, afternoon: Tomi, the Padding King, completes the job adding padding to all of the rack and the base plate
 
28th October, afternoon: Ben sets up the cameras and ensures the software is working well
 
 
28th October 12pm: We wrap all of the USB camera cables in aluminium foil to minimise electro-magnetic interference from the motor inverter
 
 
28th October 11am: Then we had to attach the base plate to the plane and load the first shear cell
 
  
 
28th October, 10.30am: All 140kg of the AstEx Experiment rack is loaded onto the Zero-G plane!!!
 
 
28th October, 10am: The AstEx team get to the Zero-G plane!!!
 
 
28th October, 9am: The AstEx Experiment leaves the Novespace building
 
 
27th October, in summary: It's been a really relaxing stress-free day, everything is generally going well and the AstEx team have a strong feeling of team spirit!
 
 
27th October 5pm: Ben gets (too!) excited about the free t-shirt from ESA Education
27th October 4.30pm: The software isn't working quite as Ben anticipated....Hmm is it electro-magnetic interference from the inverter???
 
27th October 3.30pm: Adjusting the focus and aperture settings for the bottom camera isn't quite as easy as expected
 
27th October 2.30pm: We add padding to the rack (otherwise known as camping mat from Decathlon!) ...Tomi now likes to call himself the "King of Padding"
 
 
27th October 1pm: Cleaning the rack in preparation for loading into the aircraft
 
27th October 11.30am: ESA Safety engineer requests modification No. 2 - Add insulation to switches (just in case we attach them to a 500W bulb.....)
 
Left: Before, Right: After
27th October 10.30am: ESA Safety engineer requests modification No. 1 - Add extra redundancy ground wire to motor
 
Which involves "safely" sawing a bolt in half
 
Left: Before, Right: After
27th October 10am: ESA Safety engineer arrives......!
 
 
26th October 3pm: Novespace tell us they are happy with everything and we are approved to fly
26th October 1pm: They request that we change the handles for shaking the shear cell from short to long ones (to reduce chance of back injury when lifting cell)
 
 
Left: Before, Right: After
26th October 12pm: The stress and fear increase as Novespace employees examine, test and scrutinize our experimental rack, electrical set-up and experimental procedures
 
 
26th October 11am: Tomi and Naomi assemble the experiment while Ben deals with Novespace paperwork
 
26th October 10.30am: Unloading our experiment
 
26th October 9.30am: First task is to watch exciting safety briefing video
26th October 9.15am: Arrival at Novespace - if you look carefully you can see the zero-g plane in the fog!
25th October: Our apartment (possibly the smallest 3/4 person apartment in France!)
 
25th October: Naomi's reaction after seeing the apartment she has to live in with the boys for the next two weeks!
25th October: The rest of the drive to Bordeaux
24th October 7pm: Dover to Boulogne Ferry - 'adverse weather conditions' make good training for the weeks to come.
 
24th October 2pm: The drive to Dover
 
24th October 11am: We secure everything and are ready to set off!
 
24th October 10.30am: We load the shear cells, tool and spare parts into the van
 
24th October 10am: We load main rack into the van (in the rain!)
 
 
23rd October 9.30pm: We leave everything ready to be loaded into the van first thing the following morning
 
23rd October 8pm: We take everything apart and wrap up the panels for the journey
 
23rd October 7pm: We practice the procedure for removing a shear cell
1. Open double containment
2. Unplug the interlocks
 
3. Unscrew and remove top panel
4. Loosen metal bar holding lights and camera
5. Slide bar along out of the way
6. Remove metal reinforcement
7. Remove ground wire from clip of shear cell (it is there upon request from ESA to avoid problems with static electricity)
8. Prepare holding rack
9. Carefully remove shear cell
 
10. Place shear cell in holding rack and screw into place
23rd October 6pm: We make a 3mm shear cell instead! So now we have one 3mm shear cell and one 4mm shear cell.
 
23rd October 5pm: Naomi and Tomi fill the 2mm bead shear cell....only to find it doesn't work as the beads get in between moving cylinder and base plate. :-( They then have to remove ALL of the beads!
 
23rd October 4.30pm: Ben practices shaking the shear cell
 
23rd October 4pm: Demonstration of flight-ready experiment given to PSSRI
 
23rd October 3.30pm: The AstEx experiment is fully assembled in flight ready mode for the first time and is photographed beside the man who did most of the construction work - Kevin.
23rd October 3pm: Naomi adds affiliation stickers to the rack
 
23rd October 12pm: Naomi and Tomi glue on the marker beads to pressure plate
 
23rd October 11.30am: Naomi figures out how to add marker beads to pressure plate (to determine height)
  
23rd October 10.30am: Ben installs the bottom camera
23rd October 10am: Kevin comes to show us the holding racks he has built for the shear cells when they are not in use
23rd October 9am: Tomi and Naomi finish covering the double containment panels in safety film
 
The camera software written by Ben works well, 22nd October 2009
We switch it all on with the filled shear cell in place for the very first time, 22nd October 2009
 
We fill the first shear cell with 4mm beads and put it into the rack! :-) 22nd October 2009
 
Preparation of the shear cells involves several steps:
1. Remove protective covering from Acrylic
2. Clean Shear Cell outer cylinder
3. Measure safety film and cut to size
 
4. Apply soapy liquid to Shear Cell surface
5. Carefully apply safety film
 
6. Remove liquid with a squeegee
7. Trim excess safety film
8. Make a template for the top-plate
9. Cut-out safety film for top-plate
10. Apply and trim safety film on top plate
 
11. Apply double sided sticky tape to the inner and outer cylinders
12. Stick beads to the double sided sticky tape to create frictional surface
 
 
Then finally fill with beads...those pictures will come later!
Nick finishes wiring up all of the electrics including interlocks on the top door (upon request by ESA), 21st October 2009
 
Ben programming the camera software to make sure we can easily take and save all the images we need in the small amount of time available, 20th October 2009
 
We buy the padding to cover the rack, 19th October 2009
Tomi and Naomi arrive at the OU for an intensive week of AstEx preparation, 19th October 2009
 
Naomi presents AstEx at the IAC 2009 conference in Daejeon, South Korea (thanks to ESA sponsorship). 13th October 2009
Two extra metal bars and a metal strap are added (upon request by ESA) to ensure the motor is securely held in place, 9th October 2009
The first camera is attached, 5th October 2009
Ben has to demonstrate to ESA that we can't fall into the rack and that we can't reach the moving parts! September 2009
The laptops arrive and everything begins to get wired up, September 2009
The inverter and lights are mounted onto the rack, September 2009
 
Click here to see a real time movie of the experiment in action (on Earth!).
Some example images taken during very first tests, September 2009
Putting beads into the shear cell for the very first time! September 2009
 
 
 
 
Patrice (Novespace) and Natacha (ESA) come to The Open University, August 2009
 
 
The almost complete AstEx Experiment in The OU workshop, August 2009
  
Naomi and Patrick visit Wolfgang Losert at The University of Maryland, August 2009
The rack being assembled, July 2009
 
Bearings under shear cell , July 2009
The inner cylinders for the shear cells, July 2009
 
Close-up of the shear cells and clips , July 2009
 
The shear cell with outer cylinder, inner cylinder, supporting blocks underneath, the pressure plate resting inside and supporting bottom plate underneath, July 2009
 
The rack begins to be built, July 2009
 
The first shear cells begin to be assembled in the OU workshop, July 2009
 
The motor arrives, July 2009
 
The first parts start to arrive at the workshop in The Open University, June 2009
 
Novespace Safety Workshop, Bordeaux, May 2009
 
 
 
Working in the lab at PSSRI (Added 25th Feb 2009)
 
Trying to sort out the glass beads for testing
Transparency tests (Added 25th Feb 2009)
We performed a series of tests to determine the limiting depth of beads through which we could image black beads (or in this case, black spots). We also tried different illumination angles to see if it would improve the transparency. Conclusion: we need better beads!
NB: WE ARE NOW USING COLOURED BEADS (NOT TRANSPARENT BEADS) AND IMAGING THE SURFACE ONLY!
  
 
Selection Workshop, European Astronaut Centre, Cologne. (December 2008)
The judges and students from all over Europe who were at the selection workshop
 
Team AstEx giving their presentation to the judging panel and all of the other students
Training! :-)
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