 Göttingen DLR School Lab Logo Hi, my name is Edgard, I'm 12 years old and at the age of 9 years I participated for the first time in the InnovaSpace project "Kids2Mars", asking the question 'why is Mars red?'. I'm Brazilian, but I have lived in Germany since 2009 in the city of Göttingen. I'm now finishing sixth grade, and my 3 favourite subjects are Mathematics, Experiment Workshops, and Natural Sciences - oh and in fourth place comes English! Since September 2019, I have been participating in the Flugmodellbau Project (model airplane construction) at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) School Lab, building model airplanes - Macht Spaß! (it's fun!) Too bad it ended just before Christmas. But my history with DLR began much earlier, when we came from Brazil in 2009, as my father started his PhD at the DLR. As the months went by, our house became full of posters and materials related to spaceships, airplanes, and wind tunnels. There was always a new technology and he promised me that as soon as I was older, after all I was only 4 years old at that time, he would take me to participate in the DLR/School Lab (Photo 1). I never forgot what he said, and it's a good thing my dad didn't either! And so I discovered the DLR.  School Lab, in a deactivated Wind Tunnel The years passed by and finally my time to participate came. After a long wait and never forgetting that world my father had introduced me to, I arrived in the sixth grade of school and with it came the offer to participate in after-school activities (every semester my school organises an extra activity, called "Club", involving sports and leisure activities). I have already done climbing, and currently I am doing gardening. In 2019 I signed up for the DLR, which once a year offers the option of building aircraft models. There were only a few vacancies but luckily, and with a little bit of divine help, I managed to enter. It was great and I started having activities at DLR every week. Some colleagues from my school (2) also participated in the project with me and I made new friends too at DLR, who came from other schools. Altogether there were 16 of us. I like the workshop, it has various tools and lots of things to assemble. Macht spaß! I began by assembling various model airplanes in paper and styrofoam to understand how aerodynamics work and how airplanes fly - a new model every week! I really like going to the DLR. The coordinator, together with the activity monitors (3) are really friendly and know how to teach things about airplanes well. I think this activity is important because I like airplanes, doing experiments and technology, and the DLR environment is really cool. I have already learnt very important things about physics, stuff that I don't even have at school yet. I've dedicated myself because I think it will help me in my education and it will be good for my life. I don't yet know what I will be when I grow up, for now I'm thinking about being an architect, a designer.  Model airplane with motor In January this year, 2020, I began the second (advanced) module of the model airplane workshop because I wanted to continue learning. Only myself and 2 other colleagues continued on from the first module, joined by 3 new friends, making 6 of us in total. When I finish this module, I intend continuing on to the next one and, who knows, maybe enter the School Lab for real one day. I consider myself to be a normal child. I don't always like to go to school, I have hobbies like riding my scooter and playing video games. I like doing sports like badminton, swimming, running and walking. And I dream of winning the Lotto, buying a house and having a very peaceful life. This week InnovaSpace is highlighting the great work taking place in Angola by the Academy of Kandengue Scientists, with a blog written by Mentor of the project Pedro Paris and Aeronautical Engineer Marco Romero. We thank the Academy for the contribution of their students to our Kids2Mars project - and for their amazing work in creating opportunity for the local people and community! You are all stars!
 The Academy of Kandendgue Scientists is a technology-based start-up that empowers children and adults from 5 to 25 years of age, instilling the seed of inventive and technological skills from an early age. Enabling children to discover their own potential helps them to avoid bad practices, such as drugs, prostitution and delinquency, and envisages a society that is technologically well prepared for future challenges, and perhaps even a renewed Africa. Formed in 2017 by Professor and Inventor Pedro Paris (telecommunications technician) and Aeronautical Engineer Marco Romero, the project aims to provide more opportunities for children and young people without access to education. In 2012, an ordinary residence in Viana in the province of Luanda was transformed into a laboratory, an explanatory and preparatory centre, and 5 years later the idea was born to include children who lacked the opportunity to access education, but who, like others, had the enormous potential to become “Kandengue Scientists”. The Academy already has the involvement of around 80 Kandengues aged from 6 to 30 years, of which 30 are now tutors with more than 5 years of experience, having been trained by Professor Pedro Paris. KANDENGUE VISION: To transform children and adults from Angola, Africa and the World into budding scientists and professional IT technicians, so they can provide solutions to the problems of their community and country. KANDENGUE MISSION: To bring sustainable technologies to the neediest communities, occupying the spare time of children and adults with art, education and sustainable technology. KANDENGUE VALUES: Discipline, Love, Patriotism In recent years, more than 976 children and adults from private and public schools, and foster homes throughout the nation have learned the basics of electronics, robotics, programming, game development, applications, aeronautics and space technology, thanks to the “Kandengue Scientists”. Changes in the lives of many families can already be felt, having received the tools and knowledge needed to put bread on their tables, having access to schools and universities, and solving community problems. The financial and logistical difficulties for ensuring better conditions for the children in the development of educational activities are initially resolved by the tutors, who create teaching methods and materials tailored to existing conditions, for example, reusing electronic waste for e-learning and the creation of decorative and visual arts. Partnerships with public entities have already taken place in 2019 and 2020, such as with the network of Angolan media libraries, Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technologies (MTTI), National Technology Centre, Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESCTI), BusCenter, Unitel, Methodist University of Angola, and the Seaka Center (Angolan Spiritualist Society Allan Kardec), in which the academy made available 10 professors to help the institution with a lack of teaching staff. Some of our KEY SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVES are:
And below are just some of the ideas and projects the Kandengue Scientists have been developing:
“innovations arise from simple ideas that fully resolve the observed problem” If you would like to know more about the Kandengue Scientists and the wonderful work they do in Angola, do get in touch with Marco Romero at - Pariscientista@gmail.com Adam J CrellinGraduate Medical Student, Oxford University; Analog Astronaut, Austrian Space Forum  Analog astronaut Adam Crellin giving his graduation speech While attending the 2019 European Mars Conference in London this week at the Institute of Physics, we had the pleasure of witnessing the graduation ceremony of the next cohort of newly qualified Austrian Space Forum (OeWF) analog astronauts, who will take part in next years' AMADEE20 Mars analog mission in Israel. Analog astronauts are people who have been trained to test equipment and conduct activities under simulated space conditions, and they play an important role in preparing for future Moon and Mars missions. We liked so much the graduation speech given by analog astronaut Adam Crellin that we asked if we could publish it here on the InnovaSpace website to inspire all the young would-be astronauts out there - dream big! "I would like to open by saying not only how much of an honour it is to speak on behalf of my classmates and the Austrian Space Forum today, but also to stand in front of you all as a newly qualified analog astronaut. I am especially proud to be speaking at a European-wide conference in the UK, organised by the recently reformed Mars Society UK. In classrooms across the UK, and even the world, children are being asked by their primary school teachers, the existential question of ‘what do you want to be when you grow up?’. Some of these children, fascinated by space, will say they want to be an astronaut. Children often continue this hope as they grow older, perhaps keeping it a bit quieter, guarding it a bit more closely. Later, they then discover that there are a huge range of diverse opportunities in space, and that astronauts are one small cog in a large machine. A machine that contains astronauts who plant flags; plant experts who grow astrocrops; astronomers who study the universe and its laws; lawyers who write legislation through careful engineering; engineers who build spacecraft that rock; and, well, for those who like rocks, there is geology as well as countless other professions." "As we prepare for a renewed age of crewed missions beyond low Earth orbit, to fill the steps of the Apollo astronauts, and extend those tracks further than have ever been achieved before, we are reminded of the importance of analog missions. In the same way famous twentieth-century polar explorer, Roald Amundsen, spent years experimenting, refining, and proving equipment and procedures suitable for a South Pole expedition, we too are preparing for a Mars expedition. And equally so, preparedness will be key to success. For theory and strictly controlled laboratory research, can only partially answer some of the questions about what to expect, and how to work on Mars. Analog research missions, including those of the Austrian Space Forum, help to provide further answers. To be an analog astronaut, is to be a unique cog in our space industry machine. A cog whose sporks interlink with many different cogs, working across disciplines with research groups throughout Europe. A well-oiled cog, remaining fit and healthy in preparedness for any challenge which may arise. And a cog which turns equally well with many cogs, both the rusted expert cogs, and the shiny new ones, who we seek to inspire the next generation of Mars pioneers; perhaps the most important task we all have. But despite these unique qualities, we remember that we are still a small cog and that it is our collective effort, turning together, which will one day lead us to Mars. To be part of this small community with big dreams, is the greatest honour of any analog astronaut." Adam J Crellin, 4th November 2019  The First Lego League (FLL) is an annual international tournament involving teams of young people aged 9-16 years. It introduces a scientific and real-world challenge for teams to focus on, research, and create solutions to identified problems, and includes a robotics challenge to perform a set task with a programmable robot constructed from LEGO electronic and mechanical components. This year, over 40,400 teams competed in regional, national and international tournaments with their ideas, including team AC/DC/EG from Brazil, who had a very successful competition and were kind enough to give us an insight into their FLL Into Orbit experience in this year's competition, in their words below:  "The AC/DC/EG team was created on 07/12/2007 to represent the Eduardo Gomes College in São Caetano do Sul, Brazil in the FIRST LEGO League tournament. The team name is formed from the name of the rock band AC/DC together with EG for Eduardo Gomes, and so far, we have participated in competitions at 11 State, 11 National and 7 International stages. The 2018/2019 FLL - INTO ORBIT tournament has been sensational for us. Our team began taking shape in May 2018, and underwent some changes, beginning with 8 team members and finishing up with 5 members - Eduardo, Felipe and Sophia (from the beginning), and later joined by Gabriella and Fernanda. And it was with this team of 5 that our coach Reginaldo and mentors Giovanni and Giovanna reached the end of the competition. The official launch of the FLL tournament took place on August 1st 2018, so we used the time from May to August to research several problems related to this year's theme by visiting universities, watching films and videos, reading books, magazines and theses, and talking to experts in the field. At the beginning of September, we talked with Aerospace Medicine & Space Physiology specialist Dr Thais Russomano, presenting to her everything we had studied so far, and it was during one of our initial conversations that we realised there was a problem faced by astronauts, which is: WASHING IN SPACE We already had the FLL competition documentation in this initial period of our discussions so we began to compare the problems raised to make sure they fitted in with the competition guidelines. In all, we analysed 14 problems:  A phrase we heard that marked our work was by NASA space scientist Robert Frost, who said: "When several people are trapped in an enclosed space, HYGIENE IS OF GREAT IMPORTANCE." So, having done our analysis, we chose the subject of how to wash the body in space and defined our problem: THE INEFFICIENCY OF WASHING IN MICROGRAVITY And we asked: HOW CAN WASHING BE MADE MORE EFFICIENT IN MICROGRAVITY? We continued studying, raising new points and discussing them with Dr Russomano. We looked at the ways of washing that have previously been used and the current method of washing in space. ⇨ A sponge with soap and water, used during the Gemini and Apollo missions. ⇨ A shower on the MIR Space Station that wasted a lot of time, water and energy. ⇨ The Russian kit, which consists of a pre-moistened wipe and can be used for up to 3 days, using less water. ⇨ The NASA Kit, which is a cloth moistened with soap and water. We noted that, to be ideal, washing should be able to deal with dead skin cells, sweat, oiliness, odour, and bacteria and fungi!  DryBath by Ludwick Marishane We had a lot of ideas, including a kind of human jet wash that used little water – but this and other ideas were discarded as our objective was for something low-cost, water-free and lightweight, that would occupy very little space on a spacecraft. It was in thinking about this goal that we discovered a gel called DryBath, created by Ludwick Marishane, mostly for use on the African continent and in places with a scarcity/lack of water. Ludwick’s idea is that water should only be used for drinking and cooking, and for washing it can be replaced by the gel. With just 15ml of the gel, it is possible for an adult to wash without using water, and without the need to remove the gel from skin, as it is moisturising. All of our team tried using the gel, including our coach. The benefits of the gel in comparison with the existing solutions are enormous, as besides dispensing with the need for water for washing, there is a gain in transport weight and the gel occupies a minimum of space on a spacecraft. However, we needed to know its viability for use in space, so we talked to Chemical Engineer Matheus Messias, who confirmed the gel is non-flammable, and with Dermatologist Oswaldo Cipullo, who said the gel fulfils all the requirements for body washing and can be used daily. Nonetheless, the current gel packaging makes it unfeasible for use in space, as it generates a lot of waste. Therefore, after some brainstorming and tests, we developed a new storage and application system utilising a 2-litre urine collection bag filled with gel, calculating that each explorer would need 3 such bags to cover a 1-year period. Each bag is fitted with a valve connector to guarantee the pressure required to transport the gel into a syringe-type applicator, which allows its controlled delivery to the body. This system for gel storage and use saves important resources, enables fast application, requires no cleaning of the equipment, has no loss, and needs no repairs. Currently, 4 litres of water is used in space per wash, whereas, with this quantity of gel it would be possible to have 266 washes, meaning water will no longer be needed for washing the body and can be used for something else within the spacecraft. The cost of the gel and the system is 1610 Brazilian real (approx. £310) per person for a year. Therefore, it is possible to take something that was designed for use on Earth and adapt it to make its use possible in space, rather like the tortillas of astronaut Rodolfo Vela, as quoted in the FLL Into Orbit competition guidelines." The InnovaSpace team would like to congratulate the AC/DC/EG team and everyone who supported them for their success and the enthusiasm and joy they brought to the tournament stages! Congratulations also go to the thousands of teams from around the world for their hard work, curiosity, research and enthusiasm - YOU ARE ALL STARS!
Em janeiro deste ano, a InnovaSpace teve a oportunidade de cativar a atenção de um grupo de estudantes, de 12-14 anos de idade, com apresentações sobre carreiras de cientistas espaciais.
Estudantes da Escola Rainha Dona Amélia, em Lisboa, reuniram-se no auditório junto com a Profa. Berta Ferreira, para aprender mais sobre o papel das mulheres na Era Espacial.
Com os olhos bem atentos, os jovens alunos sentaram-se para assistir à apresentação do Projeto Valentina, a qual começou com uma entusiasmada palestra da Dra. Michele Rosa, que falou sobre seu caminho profissional e científico até se tornar uma pesquisadora da área espacial, juntamente com o trabalho que ela hoje desempenha na posição de Coordenadora da InnovaSpace Portuguese Hub.
A diretora da InnovaSpace Thais Russomano logo após proferiu uma palestra sobre as mulheres que foram pioneiras ao viajar para o espaço, terminando com sua própria carreira, como ela se tornou uma médica espacial e também contou um pouco do seu trabalho nessa área.
Além dessas palestras, o time da InnovaSpace também aproveitou essa interação com os alunos portugueses para apresentar um dos seus mais recentes projetos, chamado de InnovaSpace Box, desenvolvido pelo especialista em Tecnologia da Informação Maurício Rosa. A InnovaSpace Box é de fácil uso, pois possui uma interface simples que permite a interação dinâmica com os vídeos do projeto Kids2Mars, que ocorreu em 2018 – perguntas e respostas sobre uma viagem a Marte e como os astronautas viveriam e trabalhariam em uma missão interplanetária. Aproximadamente 2 horas de uma interação construtiva e de um compartilhamento de conhecimento ocorreram nesse evento. Esperamos que o time da InnovaSpace tenha conseguido motivar os estudantes presentes a seguir uma carreira em alguma área da ciência, e, em especial, na área espacial. Nossa experiência em Lisboa é apenas o começo de uma longa jornada em projetos educacionais espaciais para escolas em Portugal e outros países de língua portuguesa.
Por favor, entre em contato se houver interesse em saber mais sobre o que o time da InnovaSpace pode oferecer para a sua escola ou seus alunos – Ficamos no aguardo!
Nossos agradecimentos a Profa. Berta Ferreira e a Escola Rainha Dona Amélia por nos receber e propiciar a realização desse projeto. Muito obrigada também ao Fernando Mendes e à Ana Dias, que facilitaram a aproximação com essa instituição, bem como à sua filha Matilda, cuja a pergunta para o astronauta análogo na missão no deserto de Utah representou Portugal na primeira missão do projeto Kids2Mars. Authors: Kids from the STEP Computer AcademyAnd InnovaSpace Admin Director - Mary Upritchard  Over the last few months, InnovaSpace's very own space doctor, Thais Russomano, has been listening to some of the First Lego League tournament teams talking about the projects they have developed for this year’s Into Orbit mission, answering their questions and giving some tips as to areas they might also consider. The annual competition has teams taking part from all over the world (92 different countries this year), adopting a different theme each time linked to robotics and the STEM areas, and aimed at encouraging young students to improve critical thinking and team-building skills, stimulating their creativity and giving the opportunity to present their projects in public in front of judges. As part of this year’s competition, students have been thinking about ways to improve the life, health and wellbeing of astronauts in space, with some really constructive and original ideas being contemplated by these bright young minds. We were approached by teams from the STEP Computer Academy in Seattle USA a little while back, with great questions they had about their projects. With Thais having given them some feedback, we were delighted to hear recently that 3 of the 5 Into Orbit teams from the academy had made it through to the semi-finals of their national competition, and we are even more delighted now to be able to present three short texts from those teams:  Hello! We are the Galaxy Rulers – a fun and hardworking FIRST LEGO league team from Bellevue, Washington, USA. Our team consists of 8 teammates: Adam, Felix, Owen, Princeton, Urvi, Vanesha, Varshini, and Vedika. We are working on a project to reduce health problems like homesickness in long-term space missions like the Mars 100 mission—Mars colonization project. After getting assistance and opinions from experts and doing research, we came to a solution. Astronauts can benefit from reminders of home to fight homesickness, so we decided to use plants. Plants can remind astronauts of Earth and beautiful nature. Our solution is totally innovative, as we are using customized plants that the astronauts are familiar with or it is their state flower or plant. We hope that our solution will solve real-world problems in the future. WE ARE THE GALAXY RULERS WE MEASURE THE GALAXY!  Hello everyone! We are The Titans! We are a First LEGO League team from Bellevue, WA, USA! We have 8 teammates: Nikita, Irina, Ayush, Amish, Neev, Amish, Henry, and Liam. We are working on a project that helps astronauts cope with stress in space. We did research and talked to experts, and found out that astronauts experience a lot of stress on the ISS. A solution to that is to create a relaxation method that will help astronauts reduce stress while working in space. We are working on a relaxation booth that will address various astronauts’ senses. We propose a relaxation booth that will have real plants inside, relaxation music and a variety of calming scents.  Hi there! We are a First LEGO League team called Space Pirate Pickles! We are from Bellevue, Washington, United States and we have six members on our team: Liam, Tony, Koden, Hanming, Michael and Vishnu. Our project is to find new ways to protect astronauts from the space radiation when on long-term space missions. According to our research, such non-technical and easily accessible things like vitamins (D, E, C etc.), iodine-based foods, plants (aloe vera, cactuses), placebos and acupuncture can add to the protection from space radiation. So to solve this problem, we suggest combining non-technical and technical solutions (e.g. thermos-nuclear rockets). We believe the problem of space radiation will be solved and we will be able to safely (health-wise) travel to far away planets. We also want to add that First LEGO League has been a great learning experience. FLL journey is all about discovery, learning something new every day, cooperating sharing what we learned with others. Many InnovaSpace congratulations to the teams from the STEP computer academy, and to all the teams who have taken part in this prestigious tournament - you are all stars!
Wishing the very best of luck to the Galaxy Rulers, The Titans, and the Space Pirate Pickles for their semi-final presentations, and to the many other teams in their national competitions all around the world - ad astra! Mary UpritchardInnovaSpace Admin Director With another year now drawn to a close, I thought it would be interesting to look back on the two very successful InnovaSpace Kids2Mars events that took place in 2018 involving questions asked by children to crew members of Mars analogue missions, one with the MDRS Crew 185 in the Utah desert and the other with the Austrian Space Forum’s AMADEE-18 mission in the Dhofar desert in Oman. In summary, 53 children from 33 different countries from around the world had the opportunity to ask anything they wanted about travelling to and life on Mars, and very interesting answers came back from analogue astronauts and crew members who spent their time isolated in desert regions, especially chosen for their similarities to the planet Mars.  Analogue astronauts on this type of mission in general have little spare time, as they are involved in many research activities, so we knew we could not bombard them with a mountain of questions. This in fact also linked well with our aims for the Kids2Mars project, which was to involve children from as many different countries as possible – quantity of countries rather than quantity of questions. With our tagline of Space Without Borders, this aspect was of prime importance, so an end result of 33 countries was very satisfying, especially so considering the diverse range of nations involved, such as Bolivia, Bulgaria, Iceland, Mongolia and Nepal. In fact, we had questions coming from countries in 6 of the 7 continents, just missing out on Antarctica, which for obvious reasons is a little more difficult! It was interesting to hear how the name of the planet Mars, named after the Roman god of war, was pronounced in the various languages. Certainly, the sound of the word was the same or very similar to the English pronunciation in the majority of cases, however, there were a few exceptions, such as from China, Japan, Nepal, Libya and Indian Tamil. We have extracted the word Mars, where mentioned, from all of the children’s questions and with the invaluable help of our two collaborators from Italy, Fabio Pinna and Mario Mollo, created a short video – we hope you like it! One thing that has become obvious from all the Kids2Mars activities we have conducted is how much the subject of space and space travel arouses curiosity, and how much the young people involved in the lectures and creative pursuits have done so with great enthusiasm and interest. In our view, this is exactly why outreach activities linked to Mars or the Moon or astronauts, in fact anything involving space, can be used as a tool to capture the attention and interest of children, motivating them to give more consideration to the STEM areas of education. Although the adults of today are laying and securing the foundations of human life in space, it is our children who will build on this to become the Space Generation, and perhaps in time, even future Mars colonisers!
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