U of S Microgravity Scientists Invited to Join European Space Agency Flight
Posted September 06, 2000
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ?Tuesday, September 5, 2000 2000-09-03-OTHER
U of S Microgravity Scientists Invited to Join European Space Agency Flight
University of Saskatchewan engineering researchers have become the first
Canadians invited to conduct a microgravity experiment aboard a European
Space Agency (ESA) simulated space flight.
During the week of Nov. 20, the U of S Microgravity Research Group will use
the near-weightless conditions aboard the Sogerma-Socea Airbus A300 Zero-G,
the world?s largest microgravity aircraft, to test a new prototype heat
exchanger that could fly on the International Space Station when it starts
operations in 2004.
The ESA is paying for the cost of the zero-gravity flights and the Canadian
Space Agency will pick up the tab to send a U of S graduate student and the
testing apparatus to Bordeaux, France.
"The fact that the ESA has invited our group to fly on this campaign is a
tribute to the respect and recognition that our group has acquired," said
the group?s director Kamiel Rezkallah, who will outline the plans at a
luncheon today organized by the Saskatoon and District Commerce and the
Saskatoon Regional Economic Development Authority Inc. (SREDA).
"Our new way of transporting heat in the space environment has been proven
sufficiently that NASA has already selected it to be used in the future
space flights to Mars."
The ESA airplane flights will provide testing conditions of one-hundredth
the gravitational pull on Earth by flying in a series of parabolic
trajectories, each lasting 20 to 25 seconds. The U of S experiment will fly
on three flights of up to 30 parabolas each.
For the graduate student chosen for the flight, it?s a "giant rollercoaster
in the air," says Rezkallah, adding that such flights are sometimes dubbed
"vomit comets." Still, the students "line up for it partly because of the
sensation of flying in space," he says. In preparation, there?s a medical
exam and training in a depressurized chamber.
Microgravity, or extremely low gravity, is key to developing new products
(such as drugs or new forms of glass and ceramics) and to understanding
processes such as fluid dynamics which can be distorted by gravitational
effects, Rezkallah says.
His seven-member research team is interested in testing the behavior of
heating and cooling systems in space, work which not only could pave the way
for heat exchangers and refrigeration systems designed for space travel, but
could also have applications here on Earth.
For instance, by studying fluid dynamics and heat transfer in a
near-weightless environment, scientists can better understand these
phenomena without the masking effects of gravity. This new knowledge can
then be used to improve the design of technologies related to, for instance,
pipeline transport of oil and gas.
"On average, 30 per cent of the crude oil in Alberta is sitting at the
bottom of the wells because our models for oil recovery don?t fully take
into account the impact of surface tension, the force that determines the
flow of fluids and which can be masked by gravity," he said.
But he stresses Canadian scientists in both academe and industry need quick
and cheap access to a ground-based testing facility before sending their
experiments on costly shuttle or space flights. Such a facility is critical
if Canada is to make the most of its $1.2-billion investment in the
International Space Station, he said.
He proposes to convert the abandoned Patience Lake potash mineshaft just
east of Saskatoon into Canada?s first microgravity research centre to be
called CMORE ? the Centre for Microgravity Research and Education. He says
the concept, now being developed into a detailed business plan, has support
from the Canadian Space Agency and the Saskatchewan government.
The CMORE drop shaft would provide free-fall time of up to 12 seconds, the
longest in the world. A recent study by U of S MBA graduate students points
out that the longest drop shaft in the U.S. is only a five-second drop. The
study, which involved a survey of the microgravity research community,
concludes that the proposed $15-million CMORE project would fill a global
market niche.
Rezkallah notes Saskatoon is already on its way to becoming a Canadian
centre for new materials research with the construction of the U of S
Canadian Light Source synchrotron project
(http://www.usask.ca/research/synchrotron.shtml ) and new mass spectroscopy
facilities on campus. The CMORE project would also boost Saskatoon?s growing
reputation as "Science City", attracting researchers from around the world
and providing local jobs and business opportunities.
Note to editors: Visits to the proposed drop shaft site, 16 kilometres east
of Saskatoon, can be arranged upon request.
For more information, contact:
Prof. Kamiel Rezkallah
Department of Mechanical Engineering
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-5453/5440
kamiel@engr.usask.ca
or
Kathryn Warden
Research Communications Officer
Office of the Vice-President (Research)
(306) 966-2506
kathryn.warden@usask.ca
