Most recently, the main engineering show in the country, Interpipe TechFest, took place in Dnipro.
Anna Ivanenko, editor-in-chief of HOCHU.ua, told about all the details of the festival in her report.
The lecture hall truly deserved special attention — dozens of interesting speakers who discussed a wide variety of topics in the field of technology. Since I am interested in the topic of space, I immediately determined for myself that I would go to the lecture “Walk on Mars while staying on Earth” by Inigo Munoz.
Inigo Muñoz is an analog astronaut of Spanish origin at the Austrian Space Forum (OeWF), head of training at the Galileo Control Centre, astrophysicist and aerospace engineer. He is involved in the research and testing of new technologies that will allow humans to colonize Mars. Interestingly, Munoz was involved in the preparation and conduct of several experiments aboard the module of the International Space Station Columbus. Inigo also trained astronauts from the European Space Agency in Cologne.
So, below I publish the main messages from the lecture of Inigo Munoz as part of Interpipe TechFest.
Both satellites and rovers that landed on the surface flew to Mars. All those photographs that are available were taken during these missions. Moreover, these rovers were able to shoot both the surface of Mars and those territories, spaces located under the surface of this planet.
The data that these missions have provided us can allow us to say with scientific certainty that Mars at one time was possibly inhabited. I’m not saying that it was unequivocally inhabited, but the conditions that existed on Mars allow us to talk about it. This is one of the main tasks that we would like to solve for ourselves – to understand whether there really was living there. This is where my work begins, as an analog astronaut.
Why are we called analog astronauts? We are not actually going to Mars, but we are creating a simulation of what conditions exist on this planet, based on the data that we received. These conditions allow us to organize experiments, and conduct scientific activities on the territory of the Earth, but in areas that are close in their characteristics to the surface of Mars. It is clear that there are rovers for exploring Mars, but no one can replace a person. We try to provide all this in such a way that in the end, someone can look from Mars to Earth.
I hope that the person who will become the first person on Mars has already been born. It may even be one of the small children.
We are trying to anticipate all the situations that may arise on Mars – both emergency and ordinary. So that a person who will be on Mars at that time, faced with this or that situation, does not think about what to do. That is, situations are worked out in advance, and we are the ones who are engaged in this study.
In 2015, we conducted research in the Northern Sahara. Their structure is similar to Mars. Such a conclusion allows us to make pictures taken from the Curiosity rover.
There is some discussion about who should be sent to Mars? A person (for this, many argue that it is people who should be present for possible scientific activity). Fans of the machine community say that it is better to send robots – they are more reliable, safer, and so on. We say: “Let’s send both those and others.”
The costume we designed is named after a princess from Jules Verne’s book 80 Days Around the World. He helps us in a full-scale simulation of a man on Mars. It includes a huge number of sensors that show the oxygen content, CO2, a person’s pulse, sensors that collect information, and special modules onboard for processing this information.
The costume is a bit shiny, pretty, and reminiscent of old science fiction. But this is a modern high-tech development. Brilliant because it is covered with aluminum. A very important feature of aluminum is that it prevents the possibility of infection since you will be on another planet – there is the possibility of introducing certain infections – both into the astronaut’s body and into the territory where the astronaut will live, where he undresses.
Such suits require a lot of testing, they must withstand enormous stresses, so we tested them both in high temperatures and in low tones. I personally tested it in a cryo-chamber at -70°C and also conducted studies on how well it perceives electrostatic electromagnetic discharges. In the upper left part, you can see elements of the exoskeleton (a device designed to replenish lost functions, increase human muscle strength and expand the range of motion due to the external frame and driving parts).
We must understand that a person who wears a spacesuit will experience serious stress with any movement. Even when you try to bend your arm, there is serious tension. You cannot do it the way you do it on Earth.
Those suits that are currently available are not yet so flexible in operation and maintenance that it is easy to carry out any replacements on your own. We are currently developing a new suit that will be ready for our new mission (to be held in 2020 in Israel). There the system will be more thought out. We are focusing on the possibility of changing the structure of the suit – everything will be slightly adjusted there.
One can imagine how difficult it will be for a person to tie shoelaces if he wears such mittens on his hands. You must understand that there are certain restrictions when using such a suit.
There are also quite funny moments in the development of the spacesuit. The helmet of the high-tech suit has a small blue part. This is a special nozzle for scratching the nose. Imagine you are in the desert of Oman, and the temperature is 50 degrees. You are wearing a suit that weighs 50 kg, you work for 4 hours in a row and you start to sweat – drops fall on your nose and you cannot do anything. In the first costumes, there was no opportunity to scratch your nose, but we learned from our own mistakes and our experience and came to the conclusion that blowing your nose or sneezing in this costume is not the best idea.
In order to use a spacesuit, you need to go through some training. Every few years there is a recruitment of analog astronauts, applications are submitted by a large number of people, of which a hundred people are eventually selected. Of this hundred, the bulk is allowed to study and, in the end, five people remain. One of them is me.
So far, 12 simulations have been run on Mars. Each time the simulation was carried out in a new place because each new place has its own characteristics and we select them for those characteristics that exist on Mars, but also in different places.
It turned out that under the surface of Mars there are huge layers of ice, which are covered with geological plates, the surface of the soil and it all moves. Therefore, we needed to simulate activity when a person enters precisely such an environment. Therefore, in 2015 we carried out a mission in the glaciers of Austria. And last year – in the desert.
There is too much distance between Earth and Mars and communication between these two planets takes 10 minutes. Conventionally, if you say from Mars: “How are you?”, then you will be answered only after 10 minutes. Therefore, communication in living form between these two planets is impossible. The Mission Support Center is located in Innsbruck, Austria. There is a large group of people who support all the activities of astronauts participating in such missions. A very important feature of any study of space is that it is impossible to study space on your own, you need a team.
For me, the exploration of Mars has two main aspects:
- Scientific.
- Relatively speaking, commercial.
It is clear that the scientific aspect is extremely important. But the second aspect is equally important. Any dollar or euro invested in the exploration of Mars, it seems to me, will bring at least a 20-fold return. That is, these may be issues related to protection from radiation or the cultivation of certain crops that are impossible or unprofitable on Earth. The industry clearly benefits from this.
What is more important for people now – Mars or the Moon?
Exploration of both Mars and the Moon is equally important. We can use the exploration of the moon as a pit stop – an intermediate stop on the way to the exploration of Mars. Alternatively, you can use the surface of the moon to organize launches from there. This is also a good option.
