Congratulations on gravitational wave discovery

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ESA is thrilled to learn that gravitational waves have been detected, and is looking forward to starting its mission to test technologies that could extend the study of these exotic waves to space.

Gravitational waves are elusive no more: an exciting breakthrough that has been 100 years in the making.

In November 1915, Albert Einstein presented his general theory of relativity, introducing a dramatic change of perspective in the physical understanding of one of the four fundamental interactions of nature: gravity.

This theory describes gravity as the way matter interacts with the flexible ‘spacetime’ it is embedded in. Massive bodies deform spacetime, changing its curvature as they move.

When accelerated, massive bodies produce tiny fluctuations in the fabric of spacetime – gravitational waves – which were first predicted in a further study published by Einstein in 1918. These minuscule cosmic perturbations have finally been revealed, after almost a century of theoretical investigations and experimental searches.

The discovery was announced today by scientists from the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) collaboration.

LIGO comprises two gravitational wave detectors in Livingston, Louisiana and Hanford, Washington, USA, and involves over a thousand scientists from across the world. The experiment uses laser beams to monitor two perpendicular arms, each extending 4 km, to look for tiny changes in their length that might be caused by passing gravitational waves.

Recently upgraded to become Advanced LIGO, the experiment obtained this historic result during the first observation run in the new configuration, which collected data between September 2015 and January 2016.

“This is tremendous news for everyone studying gravity and general relativity, and we send our warmest congratulations to colleagues in the LIGO collaboration for their outstanding result,” says Paul McNamara, LISA Pathfinder project scientist at ESA.

LISA Pathfinder is ESA’s technology demonstration mission for possible future missions to observe gravitational waves from space. Launched on 3 December 2015, the spacecraft reached its operational orbit in January and is undergoing final checks before starting its science mission on 1 March.

Source: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/ESA_congratulations_on_gravitational_wave_discovery

Fuel cells powering inner-city vehicle

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Inner-city deliveries in Austria may soon be powered by pollution-free fuel cell technology that is also being explored by ESA for satellites and robotic missions to Mars.

Austrian transport specialist HET Engineering has designed a quiet, zero-emission vehicle for sensitive traffic areas. With technical assistance from the DLR German Aerospace Center, the company’s Citylog EMF vehicles will be small enough to navigate narrow and congested streets, while reducing noise and pollution.

From its beginnings in 2010, a second prototype will be tested this year in the Austrian city of Klagenfurt, making deliveries from a logistics centre on the outskirts into the inner city. A later trial will switch to Vienna.

Cutting noise and emissions

“The focus for Citylog EMF is delivering goods in inner cities, but you could also transport people – it’s designed to be flexible so that you can put in containers or add seats as needed,” explains Johann Hartl, HET Engineering CEO.

“There will be many possible uses for these types of vehicles, including inhouse shuttle services around hotel areas and amusement parks, and luggage transfer at airports – anywhere where noise and zero emissions are important.”

Individual wagons, each with its own energy supply and capable of carrying two tonnes, are connected to form a train. This can be of any reasonable length and wagons can be easily decoupled at any time.

Fuel cells suit space

Fuel cells generate electricity by combining agents such as hydrogen and oxygen.

They are lighter than batteries, making them attractive for some space applications.

“Fuel cells have been used in space programmes before and we continue to research and demonstrate them here at ESA,” notes Max Schautz, fuel cell and battery engineer at ESA.

“There wouldn’t have been any Apollo missions or the Space Shuttle without fuel cells. They were also specified for ESA’s Hermes spaceplane.

“We’re working on fuel cells at ESA for a number of potential uses, mainly for robotic exploration on Mars and possibly for the Moon as well.

“We’re also investigating their potential for large satellites and future human spaceflight.”

Faster refuelling and lighter weight

Experienced in fuel cell research and development for future space and terrestrial applications, DLR worked with HET and determined that fuel cells were the best power source for Citylog EMF .

“We compared fuel cells with batteries, and calculated that fuel cells are better when considering weight against travelling distance,” explains Christoph Fischer, research associate at DLR’s Institute of Vehicle Concepts.

“Also, the recharging time is much shorter: it takes up to 4 hours for a battery but only 5–10 minutes to fill a hydrogen tank for a fuel cell.”

“HET definitely benefits from the expertise of DLR for their system,” says Andrea Kurz from Brimatech, the Austrian broker in ESA’s Technology Transfer Programme network supporting industry in using technologies developed for space programmes to improve terrestrial applications.

“DLR has been developing fuel cells for many applications for years and is also expert in batteries, which are needed in Citylog EMF to compensate for peaks in energy requirements,” adds Frank Zimmermann, from the ESA network’s German broker, cesah.

“DLR not only understands each technology but also how to integrate them, which is why it was an ideal partner for this project.”

“HET definitely benefits from the expertise of DLR for their system,” says Andrea Kurz from Brimatech, the Austrian broker in ESA’s Technology Transfer Programme network supporting industry in using technologies developed for space programmes to improve terrestrial applications.

“DLR has been developing fuel cells for many applications for years and is also expert in batteries, which are needed in Citylog EMF to compensate for peaks in energy requirements,” adds Frank Zimmermann, from the ESA network’s German broker, cesah.

“DLR not only understands each technology but also how to integrate them, which is why it was an ideal partner for this project.”

Taking on the transport market

Fuel cells have their own considerations, however, such as environment and temperature, which can determine what fuels should be used and how the cell is designed. Fuel cells on Earth are usually based on hydrogen and oxygen.

“There have been challenges in developing the fuel cells for Citylog EMF, including designing them to cope with subzero temperatures and achieving a reasonable cost per unit,” admits DLR’s Christoph Fischer.

These issues have been resolved and the increasing use of fuel cells in cars from leading manufacturers heralds a mainstream role for them as an energy source.

Source: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Engineering_Technology/TTP2/Fuel_cells_powering_inner-city_vehicles

Farmers benefit from satellite coverage

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Farmers can now call on the latest satellite information using the unique TalkingFields service to get the best from their land while cutting the environmental cost.

Globally available satellite data are fine-tuned to the needs of individual farmers by the Vista company in Germany, who combine optical satellite images with information from ground sensors, satnav and sophisticated crop growth models to enable precision farming on a local scale.

“Agriculture is becoming a data-driven business,” explains Heike Bach, CEO at Vista

Vista is one of 50 expert users evaluating data from the Sentinel-2A Earth observation satellite launched in June 2015 as part of the EU’s Copernicus programme. “The data are excellent,” she notes.

Talking Fields

TalkingFields began as a project within ESA’s Integrated Applications Promotion programme, and is now helping farmers in Germany, Russia, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Poland, Latvia, Hungary and Kazakhstan.

Vista and its partners recently won a gold award for innovation at the biennial international Agritechnica trade fair in Hannover. It is the first time this industry award has been given to smart farming relying on satellite data.

Vista works with agricultural suppliers to provide a tailored service. For instance, by optimising a farmer’s use of fertiliser, costs and environmental effects can be reduced.

A farmer uses satnav to pinpoint the area of a field that requires attention and cultivate just that area.

Vista worked with partners FarmFacts and John Deere to create an easy-to-use system for precise, site-specific application of organic or mineral fertilisers.

The runoff from overuse of nitrogen and phosphate has serious environmental repercussions, causing ground water pollution and vast seasonal algal blooms in the oceans.

Source: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Telecommunications_Integrated_Applications/Farmers_benefit_from_satellite_coverage

Space for safer cars

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A spacecraft tool is now improving car safety by stress-testing many of the internal computer systems to be sure they work well when the car is on the road.

Designed to test how computers on spacecraft react to cosmic radiation, the Xception software used by ESA proved to be the right tool to check the tiny computer controlling a car dashboard display.

This rather advanced space technology is now being extended to help guarantee the faultless performance of safety-critical car systems, like the brakes.

Features like navigation, cruise control, parking sensors and engine and gearbox management, also driven by microcomputers, could be the next to be scrutinised.

Safety first in space

Testing the robustness of both hardware and software is nothing new for ESA, who always demands the highest quality standards.

The company developed Xception to simulate unplanned scenarios and monitor how the spacecraft might react. Is the software robust enough to understand there was a glitch in the data and recover?

Since then, it has helped to qualify numerous satellites for space, including CryoSat to observe Earth’s ice and Swarm to monitor our magnetic field.

Under the ESA-funded National Technology Transfer Initiative in Portugal, Instituto Pedro Nunes (IPN) and Portugal’s Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia’ funding agency supporting science, technology and innovation helped the company to modify their fault injection technology for testing car parts.

Driving from Mars

The company also developed the new ‘XLuna’ for a demonstration vehicle for ESA’s ExoMars rover. It allows both safety and non-safety-essential software to run alongside each other in the same processor, rather than each function requiring its own separate microcomputer.

A rover carries complex software, some of which controls science and some of which manages the vehicle’s basic operation.

By separating the functions so they can co-exist on the same processor, it is possible to reduce the number of onboard computers – vital in space where every gram counts.

This could be yet another spin-off from space to the automotive world. The company has already been requested to adapt XLuna for car applications such as eCall, an EU initiative to fit all new cars by 2018 with a wireless device that automatically sends a distress signal to emergency services in an accident, reducing response times and saving lives.

XLuna would allow the eCall software to share the same hardware as the entertainment system without compromising the safety function of eCall.

Looking further ahead, as we prepare to ditch our steering wheels for the driverless road, we might find ourselves riding in a self-driving car using software perfected for a Mars rover.

Source: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Engineering_Technology/TTP2/Space_for_safer_cars