E - Finmeccanica

H I G H L I G H T S
9/2010 FINMECCANICA MAGAZINE
MEN OF
TELESCIENCE
RTYURUYRTUYRTU,
AS MAJOR PLAYERS IN SPACE DEVELOPMENT, TELESPAZIO
EXPERTS WORK FROM EARTH TO MANAGE THE FLUID SCI-
ENCE LABORATORY DEVELOPED BY THALES ALENIA SPACE
ITALIA ON BOARD EUROPE’S COLUMBUS MODULE, AT-
TACHED TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION. WORK
THAT FOCUSES ON THE NEEDS OF THE SCIENTIFIC COM-
MUNITY
Scientific progress is based on
experiments, which in the early
twenty-first century have found
a new and exciting testing ground:
space, or to be precise, the International
Space Station. A new frontier
ripe for exploration by a team of engineers,
scientists and astronauts, all
with a common aim: experimentation
and discovery. The fundamental
contribution to each mission undertaken
by the people and technologies
of Telespazio is now carried out
from Earth in the form of the new
methods of telescience. On 7 February
2008, the European space module
Columbus was permanently attached
to the International Space
Station (ISS), marking the dawn of a
new era for European scientific experimentation
under conditions of
microgravity. The decision to have a
European module that would allow
continuous experimentation in space
dates back to the early 1980s. The
module’s permanent attachment to
the International Space Station represents
the pinnacle of a design and
implementation programme that involved
the European Space Agency
(ESA) and the national European
agencies, all of which were also involved
in implementing a complex
organisational system and intricate
Earth infrastructure to facilitate the
preparation of on-board operations.
The ESA’s operating concept is based
on a network of centres that manage
operations and the archiving of data
from the European scientific payloads
via the central node of the
Columbus Control Centre at Oberpfaffenhofen,
near Munich. Telespazio’s
facility in Naples is one of the four
European centres that have complete
control of one of the Columbus laboratories,
the Fluid Science Laboratory
(FSL), developed by Thales Alenia
Space Italia. All the pre-operational
and operational phases of the laboratory
are managed from the Naples
control room, as well as activities to
promote the scientific use of the facility.
The FSL is a complex laboratory
that required an extremely long commissioning
and on-orbit check-out
phase, including troubleshooting activities,
which were carried out by the
Telespazio team, with the support of
Thales Alenia Space Italia in Turin, via
real-time interaction with the onboard
systems. As Dario Castagnolo,
the key contact for troubleshooting
activities, explains, a salient aspect of
this delicate phase was “the speed
and flexibility with which detailed
technical analysis had to be carried
out and rapidly turned into effective
operating procedures”. Long test and
validation periods were spent in
Telespazio’s clean room working on
the laboratory’s engineering model.
The first scientific experiment carried
out in the FSL at the end of 2008 was
Geoflow, designed to study geophysical
fluid flow under microgravity. The
Telespazio team co-ordinated the operations
of the Spanish support team
and the scientific team from the university
of Cottbus in Germany, where
Geoflow was conceived. These experiments
herald a new way of doing
science. Stefano Tempesta, who as
one of the operation leaders plays a
key role in operational performance,
explains it like this: “At last we are using
the concept of telescience, which
means a virtual presence on board
the module, in order to get the very
best scientific results through the experimenter’s
involvement in real
time.” Each experiment brings with it
an increasing sense of collaboration,
which goes beyond the international
realm and involves many people
working together simultaneously in
real time at locations dotted across
the planet and in space. MVIS was
the next technology experiment, carried
out on behalf of the Canadian
Space Agency and using a system for
minimising the effects of vibrations,
which can have detrimental effects
on experiments under conditions of
microgravity. “Once again, the thorough
preparation and ability to work
in a team, collaborating in real time
with the experimenters on the other
side of the Atlantic and with astronauts
on board, was the key to success,”
stressed Antonio Ceriello, who
managed the project.
But it is not only the FSL experiments
that Telespazio has been
working on in recent years. It has also
been collaborating directly with
NASA on other experiments. Marcello
Lappa and Chiara Piccolo, who coordinated
the preparation and performance
of the experiments, highlight
how “a significant aspect of scientific
experimentation in space is
the need to have an in-depth knowledge
of the phenomena being studied,
which is essential for co-ordinating
and interacting with the many
scientific teams involved during the
crucial phases of the experiment”.
From its Naples base, Telespazio has
also conducted important experiments
with NASA to evaluate the effects
of radiation on the central
nervous system of astronauts. These
experiments were conceived by Professor
Narici at the University of Tor
Vergata and carried out using ALTEA
experimental apparatus, developed
in Milan by Thales Alenia Space Italia
on behalf of the Italian Space
Agency, under the MoMA programme.
In recent years, the Italian
Space Agency has made a significant
contribution to scientific study on
the ISS, especially in the life sciences
and biotech sectors. In this regard,
its starting point has always been to
choose experiments that will also
help to improve the quality of life of
the general population. Last in
chronological terms, but of paramount
international scientific importance,
was the MDS experiment
to study la degeneration of bone tissue
under conditions of microgravity.
This experiment was designed
and carried out from the Telespazio
control room in Naples with realtime
scientific co-ordination by Professor
Cancedda of Genoa University
and technical support from Thales
Alenia Space Italia. This was “an experiment
carried out using for the
first time live mice, which were mon-
itored for over 100 days in orbit before
they returned to Earth,” explains
Renato Vicinanza, who co-ordinated
the experiment. The expertise and
commitment of Telespazio employees
have been key components in
the success of many other missions
and experiments conducted on both
the ISS and all the other available
space platforms. Some of the hallmarks
of the work undertaken include
attention to the needs of the
scientific community and a focus on
improving the data and results for
the benefit of science, applications
and education. To this end, Telespazio
is involved in important European
projects. In the immediate future,
Telespazio will be at the forefront of
the success of various Italian and international
missions and experiments.
In prospect are Roberto Vittori’s
future mission for the Italian
Space Agency, NASA’s Fundamental
and Applied Studies of Emulsion
Stability (FASES) in the FSL, the
FASTER experiment and new experiments
on the effects of radiation on
humans in space, all of which see
the International Space Station as
the foremost outpost of space exploration.
Above: the International Space Station (ISS)
in its current configuration in orbit around
the Earth. Right: the Telespazio Control Room
in Naples during the conducting of the
Geoflow experiment on the ISS
Above: the Geoflow experiment
container used in flight. The central glass
sphere used to simulate the Earth’s
liquid core is clearly visible
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