Eye to the sky: UTS space projects
Awed by the latest James Webb telescope images? Us too. That's why we've made a list of inspiring space projects our staff and students have been working on, from sending spaghetti into space to searching for water on the moon.
Spaghetti in space
It’s not every day you see a weather balloon hauling a plate of spaghetti into space. But in the early hours of 17 February 2022, that’s exactly what happened.
The team responsible? The Professional Aeronautics and Astronautics Society (PAAS UTS), roughly two years after they launched Vegemite toast into space.
Not only did the project give members engineering and project management skills (how cool is it to have ‘launched spaghetti into space’ on your resume?), but it also gave them a chance to demonstrate that space is accessible for your average, everyday Australian.
Image: supplied. On Thursday 17 February, the 10-member PAAS team prepared the spaghetti dish for launch.
Roving for water
It’s unlikely that water comes to mind when you think of the moon, but it could be a gamechanger when it comes to establishing a manned moon base for further space exploration.
That's why we’ve joined private companies in Australia and Canada on a rover mission to hunt for usable water for human consumption, sample processing, mining operations and food growth.
If all goes according to plan, the rover will collect and send high-resolution images and sensory data to the mission control centre here at UTS. And that could all happen as soon as mid-2024. Stay tuned!
Deliveries in space
Satellites do all sorts of jobs in space, from weather forecasting to bouncing your favourite TV show from one side of the Earth to the other. But how do they get up there?
“Most rockets deliver satellites to low-Earth-orbit,” says PhD candidate Clyde Webster. “From there, they need their own system with propulsion on it to move, or they’re left wherever the rocket dumps them.”
But not for long. He’s working with Space Machines Company at UTS Tech Lab to build a spacecraft that will take small satellites and drop them where they want to be.
Who knows, maybe one day Australia Post will be able to ship things to our extra-terrestrial friends!
Image: supplied. Clyde Webster holding a full-scale prototype of the top plate of the Space Machines Company’s spacecraft upper bay.
Space manufacturing hub
In some historic news, our Botany-based UTS Tech Lab facility will be part of Australia’s first Satellite Manufacturing Hub (ASMH), enabling research and development collaborations between industry, leading Australian universities and CSIRO.
The project’s been awarded $71 million in Federal and NSW Government funding to grow our domestic space industry through a National Space Mission for Earth Observation. The ASMH facilities are key to these missions, and will be tasked with the design, prototyping, manufacturing, integration, and testing of large satellites and payloads.
We think that’s stellar!
Space pioneer
Did you know our Vice-Chancellor Andrew Parfitt is not only a leader in higher education, but also an Australian space industry pioneer?
He’s contributed to major space and astronomy projects, including technologies for the Square Kilometre Array radio telescope (an international effort to build the world’s largest radio telescope), and worked in leading positions at CRC Satellite Systems, CSIRO Space Programs.
How many unis can say that?
Curious to see the James Webb deep field images through the eye of an artist? Read why Cherine Fahd believes the divide between science and art isn’t as big as we think.
