Science Spin Vodcasts

BROADCAST:
[11th November 2009, Ireland AM]

IMAGE:
An Irish company has won a contract to supply Europe's new Galileo Satellite System with an ultra-accurate atomic clock, one of the world's most accurate clocks, which will provide precise positioning data. [Credit: Enterprise Ireland]

SEAN DUKE:
Science Spin Magazine [http://www.sciencespin.com/]
Science Spinning Blog [http://www.seanduke.wordpress.com]
Science Spin on 103.2FM [http://www.sciencespin.podomatic.com]
To contact Sean email: sean@sciencespin.com

PIECE SUMMARY:
Europe is in the process of building a global infrastructure of satellites, which will provide it with its own GPS system - which will become the most accurate in the world - and other communication services.
This Galileo system of satellites - pictured here - which is due to become operational in 2013, is necessary, Europe believes, because the current system of relying on the US and Russia to provide GPS and other satellite services is not satisfactory.
This is particularly true given that these other systems are under the control of the US and Russian military and Europe, in a crisis, could be cut off from these systems.
For satellites to be capable of providing ultra accurate GPS, and other telecommunication services, they must be extremely accurate in terms of their position relative to the ground.
The position of a satellite is determined by atomic clocks, the world's most accurate clocks.
An Irish company, based in Dublin, Eblana Photonics, has recently won a contract to supply the European Space Agency with an atomic clock, which will be used onboard future Galileo satellites.
I went to visit the company, and see what is involved in building such a clock, and how this small Irish company managed to win such a prestigious contract against stiff competition.

SEGMENT LINKS:
Europe's Global Satellite System, Galileo [http://www.esa.int/esaNA/GGG0H750NDC_galileo_0.html]
Eblana Photonics [http://www.eblanaphotonics.com/]

BROADCAST: [28th October 2009, Ireland AM]

IMAGE: There are plans for astronauts to travel to Mars in coming decades, as represented in this illustration where astronauts have landed on the Red Planet. Such manned missions could take a huge toll on astronauts physical health, and result in bone and muscle deterioration. [Credit: The Situationist]

SEAN DUKE:
Science Spin Magazine [http://www.sciencespin.com/]
Science Spinning Blog [http://www.seanduke.wordpress.com]
Science Spin on 103.2FM [http://www.sciencespin.podomatic.com]
To contact Sean email: sean@sciencespin.com

PIECE SUMMARY:
Manned missions to Mars are planned by the NASA, as well as the European and Russian space agencies in coming years. These missions will take up to three years to complete, with a travel time of six months each way, plus up to 20 months on Mars waiting for the planets to come back into the correct allignment. The longer the time astronauts spend in space, the greater the bone and muscle deterioration - in the absence of the Earth's gravity - that takes place. This means it is essential that astronauts on future Mars missions (and planned missions to the Moon) have an effective means of exercising in space. This is where an Irish researcher, Dr Brian Caulfield, based at the Institute for Sport and Health at UCD comes in. He has designed a muscle stimulating device - similar to Slendertone, but more sophisticated - that will enable future astronauts to exercise, even while asleep. This device can also be beneficial here on Earth, by providing the elderly with a way to combat muscle and bone wastage, as well as helping people to exercise that would otherwise be unable to do so - such as people recovering from car accidents or with permanent physical disabilities.

SEGMENT LINKS
Institute for Sport and Health, UCD [http://www.ucd.ie/instituteforsportandhealth/]
European Space Agency, Human Spaceflight and Exploration [http://www.esa.int/esaHS/index.html]

BROADCAST: [16th September 2009, Ireland AM]

IMAGE:
This is an image of an extremely powerful 'solar flare' on November 4, 2003, taken by the SOHO Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, SOHO, spacecraft. The image reveals hot gas in the solar atmosphere in false color, and the flare is the bright, white area on the right edge of the sun. The horizontal line through the flare is not real; it's just the result of the flare's intense light saturating the detector in the instrument making the image: SOHO's Extreme-ultraviolet Imaging Telescope. [Credit, The European Space Agency and NASA]

SEAN DUKE:
Science Spin Magazine [http://www.sciencespin.com/]
Spinning Blog [http://www.seanduke.wordpress.com]
Science Spin on 103.2FM [http://www.sciencespin.podomatic.com]
To contact Sean email: sean@sciencespin.com

PIECE SUMMARY:
Dr Peter Gallagher, an astrophysicist, at TCD, could be called a scientific 'sun worshipper'. His career to date has been based on deepening our understanding of the Sun, and its violent eruptions, which can reach Earth as 'solar storms'.These storms can be serious enough to threaten the lives of astronauts working on the International Space Station, and knock out telecommunications and power systems on Earth. Thus, they are being taken increasingly seriously. Dr Gallagher is involved with several major international space missions, including NASA missions, that are seeking to increase scientific knowledge of the Sun.

SEGMENT LINKS:
Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, SOHO [http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/]
'Real time' monitoring of the Sun [http://www.solarmonitor.org/]
TCD Astrophysics Research Group [http://www.tcd.ie/Physics/Astrophysics/]
Heliophysics Integrated Observatory [http://www.helio-vo.eu/]

BROADCAST: [2nd September 2009, Ireland AM]

IMAGE:
Artist's impression of the Mercury Composite Spacecraft arriving at Mercury. The two orbiters will seperate and each will be deployed in their own dedicated orbit. The spacecraft will be subject to temperatures of 350 Celsius, which is higher than any current materials used on spacecraft can tolerate Scientists based at the Tyndall National Institute are coming up with a more resilient material. [EADS Astrium]

SEAN DUKE:
Science Spin Magazine [http://www.sciencespin.com/]
Science Spinning Blog [http://www.seanduke.wordpress.com]
Science Spin on 103.2FM [http://www.sciencespin.podomatic.com]
To contact Sean email: sean@sciencespin.com

PIECE SUMMARY:
Mercury is the one of Earth's nearest neighbours, yet little is known about it. The BepiColombo mission to the planet, by the European Space Agency, or ESA, will be launched in 2013 - to arrive six years later - in an attempt to fill some of the gaps in our scientific knowledge of the planet. The space probe that arrives at Mercury will be subject to extreme temperatures, no less than 350 Celsius. At these temperatures known materials will fail, so a new material is required that can tolerate the extreme temperatures around Mercury. Into this picture step researchers at the Tyndall National Institute in Cork. The Tyndall team have come up with a new material that will not fail at Mercury's temperatures, but rather will act to protect the space probe while it is carrying out its important scientific mission.

SEGMENT LINKS:
ESA's BepiColombo mission to Mercury [http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/area/index.cfm?fareaid=30]
Europe's Global Satellite System, Galileo [http://www.esa.int/esaNA/GGG0H750NDC_galileo_0.html]
Tyndall National Institute [http://www.tyndall.ie/]

BROADCAST: [19th August 2009, Ireland AM]

IMAGE: Artist's impression of the European Space Agency's Automated Transfer Vehicle, or ATV, approaching the International Space Station. An Irish company is supplying 3D video that trained astronauts and crew onboard, and also to implement difficult tasks in real world situations in space [Credit: ESA]

SEAN DUKE:
Science Spin Magazine [http://www.sciencespin.com/]
Science Spinning Blog [http://www.seanduke.wordpress.com]
Science Spin on 103.2FM [http://www.sciencespin.podomatic.com]
To contact Sean email: sean@sciencespin.com

PIECE SUMMARY:
Despite the huge investment by the various space agencies in spacecraft, and the absolute necessity that nothing goes wrong in space, astronauts, until recently, still performed difficult tasks in space, by referring to technical manuals. As we all know, using manuals to perform complex tasks is not easy.
That all changed when the European Space Agency (ESA) decided recently to contract Dublin-based Cortona 3D to provide 3D videosto help the crew of its Automatic Transfer Vehicle (ATV) perform their tasks, and also to train the crew. The ATV by the way is the new ESA craft that brings food, water, other supplies and astronauts to the International Space Station.
Cortona videos take crew and astronauts - visually - through sometimes difficult tasks on a step by step basis. This reduces the chances of mistakes happening as humans can follow steps visually more easily and less stressful than by reading text. It is such a simple idea, from the small, innovative Irish company yet a powerful one, that one wonders why no-one did it before now. They didn't and a huge market is now opening up for Cortona 3d video products, not just in space, but on Earth too, according to Cortona President Connell Gallagher, who is interviewed in this piece. Connell predicts that all self-assembly products will soon automatically come with video software showing people how to put the product together.

SEGMENT LINKS:
European Space Agency 'Jules Verne' ATV [http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/ATV/index.html]
Cortona 3D [http://www.cortona3d.com/Products/Cortona-3D-Viewer.aspx]