Enabling Studies on the Effects of Gravity Through Ground-Based Research: The Use and Limitations of the Random Positioning Machine

Access to microgravity has benefits across a large variety of fields. It presents unique features including the absence of convection, sedimentation, and buoyancy, which introduce new possibilities within physical and chemical processes. The dominance of diffusion in microgravity allows more uniform and precise structures to be formed within...

Decades of subsidence followed by rapid uplift: Insights from microgravity data at Askja Volcano, Iceland

In August 2021, Askja volcano in Iceland returned to the spotlight after a sudden onset of rapid uplift followed decades of continuous subsidence. In this study the extended record of microgravity data from Askja between 1988 to 2017 is revisited, and new microgravity data from 2021 and 2022 are introduced, which were collected after the...

Microgravity Change During the 2008–2018 Kı̄lauea Summit Eruption: Nearly a Decade of Subsurface Mass Accumulation

Results from nine microgravity campaigns from Kı̄lauea, Hawaiʻi, spanning most of the volcano's 2008–2018 summit eruption, indicate persistent mass accumulation at shallow levels. A weighted least squares approach is used to recover microgravity results from a network of benchmarks around Kı̄lauea's summit, eliminate instrumental drift, and...

Total magnetic force on a ferrofluid droplet in microgravity

The formulation of the total force exerted by magnetic fields on ferrofluids has historically been a subject of intense debate and controversy. Although the theoretical foundations of this problem can now be considered to be well established, significant confusion still remains regarding the implementation of the associated expressions....

Investigation of the Coriolis effect in rotating space platforms

The presence of prolonged microgravity in space has long been known to have a negative impact on the human body such as deterioration of bones and muscles. Rotating space platforms have the potential to mitigate the health risks for prolonged space travel by creating an Earth-like artificial gravity environment for the habitants. In this article...

Development of a Miniaturized Demonstrator for Foam Rheology Microgravity Experiments

The project under analysis is about the development and qualification of a demonstrator for a miniaturized foam rheology experiment performed in microgravity environment. The thesis is part of a larger feasibility study to evaluate the possibility of implementing such experiment on the International Space Station as an internal payload of the...

Cost Effective Attitude Control Validation Test Methods for CubeSats Applied to PolarCube

The problem of testing the performance of an attitude control system presents new challenges and opportunities when conducted on a CubeSat scale. This is the result of drastic reduction in physical properties (size, mass, torques) as well as project resources (funds, manpower, time) when compared to traditional satellite programs. This thesis...

Architecture for Microgravity: Accomodating space tourism

Research and design for a tourist space station in low earth orbit, based on activities performed by the visitors and their hosts.

The numerical simulation of liquid sloshing in microgravity

With the increasing amount of liquid on board spacecraft, liquid management and its influence on the overall spacecraft dynamics is becoming increasingly important. The influence of sloshing liquid may hamper critical manoeuvres in space, such as the docking of liquid-cargo vehicles (e.g. to ISS) or the pointing of observational satellites....

Analysis of the alignment of a schlieren system for tele-operation

The schlleren observation technic[ue can be used in microgravity experiments. Alignment features for the gratings of a multiple source sharp focusing schlieren system have been analysed. Measurements have been performed to verify the theoretical predictions which show good agreement with the analysis results. The analysis allows for the...

Introduction to possible means of experiment operations on the space station

The present plans for space stations are evolutionary developments from Skylab, ASTP, Spacelab, and recently, MIR. Other forbears can be identified as well, and it is instructive to compare current designs with the drawings that appeared in magazines around 1950, when spaceflight first appeared feasible. The space station that is taken as the...

Final report on a research facility for critical point phenomena in microgravity

A conceptual design for a research facility for critical point phenomena in Spacelab's microgravity environment is presented. In the critical point facility (CPF) four experiments can be performed in parallel. The CPF consists of five parts: four experiment units and a service module. The experiment units offer the user-provided (instrumented)...