{"id":3428,"date":"2021-08-31T11:31:54","date_gmt":"2021-08-31T10:31:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/?p=3428"},"modified":"2021-09-15T13:07:48","modified_gmt":"2021-09-15T12:07:48","slug":"back-in-orbit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/2021\/back-in-orbit\/","title":{"rendered":"Back In Orbit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Boyle:<\/strong> An\u2019, as it blowed an\u2019 blowed, I often looked up at the sky an\u2019 assed meself the question: What is the stars? What is the stars?
Joxer:<\/em><\/strong> Ah, that\u2019s the question, that\u2019s the question: what is the stars?<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

THE LONG-SUFFERING Juno didn\u2019t have much time for the philosophising of her ne\u2019er-do-well \u2018Paycock\u2019, but in fact, the Paycock was giving voice to a question that has motivated Irish women and men for at least 5,000 years. Br\u00fa na B\u00f3inne \u2013 Ireland\u2019s Valley of the Kings \u2013 is dramatic testament to a civilisation that looked skyward and mobilised its society towards creating what may very well be the oldest astronomical observatories in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the time \u201cJuno and the Paycock\u201d was first staged in 1924, Irish astronomers had been at the forefront of a revolution in astronomy that spanned the Victorian era and into the 20th century, so much so that it was an Irish astronomer who answered Boyle\u2019s question just four years later in 1928: The legendary Sir William \u2018Bill\u2019 McCrea, from Ranelagh in Dublin, was one of the first to demonstrate that the sun and stars were made of gas \u2013 not iron as most people supposed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have an amazing tradition of brilliant astronomy in Ireland,\u201d observes Professor Lorraine Hanlon, Director of the UCD Centre for Space Research (C-Space), \u201cand to this day we have a very active space and astronomy community.\u201d It is that remarkable heritage \u2013 and the huge future potential \u2013 that inspired the creation of C-Space in 2020 as a University-wide Academic Centre for space-related research, innovation and education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

C-SPACE<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The UCD Centre for Space Research (C-Space) was established in March 2020 and publicly launched on December 15 2020. More than 15 academic staff from five Schools in UCD are involved in this interdisciplinary research centre dedicated to space. The School of Physics plays a leading role in several of the C-Space research themes, including gamma-ray detectors, astrophysics and nanosatellites and payloads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s space scientists and engineers at UCD are embarked on a vastly different enterprise from the pure research of their illustrious predecessors: \u201cOur purpose is to build partnerships with researchers and innovators across Ireland who may not even realise that space data is relevant to their work, and we want to advance the use of space to address global scientific and societal challenges,\u201d says Professor Hanlon. \u201cWe want to bring together the academic researchers with the innovation hubs, to foster an awareness that space isn\u2019t something that just big countries do. We see higher education institutions as knowledge brokers for open innovation. Knowledge co-creation and innovation is fundamental going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

C-Space\u2019s goal is to help build collaborations across UCD, but also nationally and internationally, in furtherance of Ireland\u2019s space ambitions. One obvious example is space-based monitoring of our planet, which has a significant part to play in building a healthy world through data secured
from satellite-based Earth Observation missions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIreland has access to data from the European Union\u2019s armada of Earth Observation satellites,\u201d explains Dr Ronan Wall, the C-Space manager. \u201cOur researchers are already working with these data and with data from other satellites in areas such as Agri-Science, Environmental Science, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, Climate Modelling, Ecology, Smart Cities & Transport, Renewable Energy, Archaeology and Geography.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Professor Hanlon adds: \u201cC-Space aims to create a partnership between innovation and research, because a lot of the applications and benefits of space-based systems rely on actors who would not necessarily have seen themselves as space data users and they haven\u2019t always been aware of the benefits of space data for their work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Leadership team of the UCD Centre for Space Research: Assistant Professor Morgan Fraser, Dr Ronan Wall, Associate Professor Sheila McBreen, Professor Lorraine Hanlon, Professor Kenneth Stanton, Assistant Professor David McKeown, with Associate Professor Francesco Pilla [not pictured].<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

HISTORY<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

UCD researchers have been pioneers in space science and technology for decades, and the Engineering faculty was a very early innovator in the use of technology satellites. Led by Professor John J Kelly (later Dean of the Faculty of Engineering), a UCD team worked with NASA to use the world\u2019s first direct-broadcasting satellite (think of your Sky dish) for a revolutionary programme of lectures beamed directly to students in the Middle East. SHARE (Satellite Help for Rural Education) was officially launched in the late 1970\u2019s by Uachtar\u00e1n na h\u00c9ireann Patrick Hillery and Crown Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are immensely proud of this pioneering initiative,\u201d said Emeritus Professor Kelly, \u201cand visitors to the Engineering Building can still see a letter of thanks from the Crown Prince displayed on the wall.\u201d Decades later, UCD\u2019s links with the Middle East remain strong, thanks in part to the satellite-based learning programme, which continues to this day. In the summer of 2021, former President Mary McAleese followed in the footsteps of Dr Hillery and participated in a satellite link-up from Belfield to Bethlehem University. \u201cIt was a wonderful event,\u201d said Professor Kelly, \u201cand we are very keen for more people to know about this enormously valuable innovation using space technology.\u201d UCD has also been a world leader for many decades in the development of space technology for high-energy physics research \u2013 delving into some of the most violent events in the universe. Starting in the 1960s, the legendary Neil Porter (Professor of Electron Physics) inspired generations of UCD students with his work on gamma rays. Gamma ray bursts appear to be generated in vast cataclysmic explosions, releasing in 20 seconds as much energy as our sun will produce in its entire lifetime. His work was referenced by Professor Stephen Hawking in his famous book A Short History of Time, and the much-loved UCD professor was described in the French version of Hawking\u2019s book as the \u2018savant irlandais\u2019!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neil Porter will forever be remembered as the man who established gamma ray astronomy in Ireland and his students have gone on to bring enormous credit to UCD and to Ireland. The late Trevor Weekes became famous in world astronomy as the architect of the VERITAS telescope array in Arizona\u2019s Sonoran Desert, south of Tucson. VERITAS stands for Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System. \u201cThe types of things we look for are pathological \u2014 stars that have exploded, the centres of galaxies where massive black holes are accreting matter,\u201d Trevor once told me. \u201cWe are looking at energies and conditions that cannot be duplicated on Earth.\u201d Throughout his career, Trevor Weekes devoted considerable time and effort to helping young UCD researchers and he is remembered with great affection by all who knew this gentle, humble and brilliant man. His colleagues in the United States preserve his memory through regular academic meetings which they call \u2018TrevorFests\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another Neil Porter proteg\u00e9 at UCD, Professor George Miley, went on to pioneer a vast European radio-telescope network called LOFAR (Low Frequency Array), and had a leadership role with the joint US\/Europe Hubble Space Telescope project. Professor Miley suggested LOFAR in 1997, and construction across Europe had begun by 2006. Ireland\u2019s newest radio-telescope, iLOFAR, is part of the network and is located at Birr Castle in Co. Offaly. \u201cIt is fantastic that it has become a reality now and that it is actually being built,\u201d says Professor Miley. \u201cThe project has become much more ambitious than my original plan. I\u2019m a bit proud, I have to confess.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Professor Miley concludes: \u201cAstronomy is linked to cutting-edge technologies, fundamental science and the most profound culture, so it can be a unique tool for development throughout the world. Fanaticism and nationalism are put into perspective when you show young children how small our world is compared to the universe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

George Miley served as director of Leiden Observatory from 1996 to 2003 and in 2012 he was made a Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion, one of the country\u2019s most prestigious awards, in recognition of his many years of service at the University of Leiden. As C-Space embarks on its ambitious programme, it is clear that they are standing on the shoulders of giants: Every aspect of the work of C-Space is touched in some way by UCD\u2019s rich legacy of space research and innovation dating back all the way to the 1960\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe aim to carry out excellent space-related fundamental and applied interdisciplinary research,\u201d explains C-Space Manager Dr Ronan Wall. \u201cWe want to be a key national resource for space expertise and we would hope to inform and support national space policy development and implementation.\u201d C-Space plans to achieve this by fostering industry\/academic partnerships and collaborations, and by providing education and training which is relevant to both the creators of space hardware and satellites and those who will use the products of those satellites to provide services and new scientific insights. \u201cA lot of really excellent work is already being done in faculties across UCD,\u201d says Dr Wall, \u201cbut we hope to be a catalyst for even greater co-operation across disciplines.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

C-Space has identified six broad areas where it hopes to co-ordinate existing work and undertake internationally significant research of its own: ground- and space-based astrophysics, earth observation, gamma-ray detectors, space structure dynamics and control, space materials, and nanosatellites and payloads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A CAREER IN SPACE<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Researcher Dr David Murphy and PhD student Sarah\nWalsh in the cleanroom with EIRSAT-1.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In addition, of course, C-Space has an important role in UCD\u2019s mission to educate upcoming generations (and life-long learners). It is an interdisciplinary centre, with several constituent Schools, and each of them offer undergraduate and graduate study opportunities in space and space-relevant subjects. Most notable is the MSc in Space Science and Technology, which was established a decade ago after it became clear that Ireland\u2019s fledgling space industry had a need for graduates who already had a broad range of skills relevant to the space sector and who would not require extensive training to slot into existing industry teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis course is the perfect fit for anyone looking to get the best start towards a space-focused career,\u201d explains Katelin Smith, who graduated from the programme in 2018. \u201cComing from a primarily physics background, this course exposed me to the engineering and design aspects of the space industry. A major highlight of the masters was the mission design field trip to Tenerife. Getting to design an entire space mission in an international team was an amazing experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another masters student, Meadhbh Griffin, actually got to work on a European Space Agency satellite project while she was on the course, and the mission she worked on was launched into space in the summer of 2021. \u201cI\u2019ve been hugely lucky to get a chance to work on something that will actually be going into orbit,\u201d says Griffin. \u201cWorking on flight software means you\u2019re thinking about what you\u2019re doing the entire time, because there is no room for error.\u201d Adding to the challenge, the COVID-19 pandemic meant she had to do much of her software writing and testing remotely, using a laptop with replica boards attached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EIRSAT-1 PROJECT<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

But the space mission that Griffin and her colleagues have been most focused upon, and the one that will grab all the headlines in the coming years, is UCD\u2019s own earth-orbiting spacecraft and Ireland\u2019s first satellite: EIRSAT-1, the Educational Irish Research Satellite 1.
In addition to making history, UCD science and engineering students now have the opportunity to develop key skills that are much in demand in space research and the space industry. When it is completed, EIRSAT-1 will carry three experiments into Low Earth Orbit (about 400km above the Earth) aboard a small \u2018cubesat\u2019, a miniature spacecraft about the size of a one-litre carton of milk. Despite its small size, EIRSAT-1 promises to make real advances in gamma-ray astrophysics, advanced thermal materials and spacecraft control, and it will test out a unique Antenna Deployment Module which, like all the other experiments, has been developed in-house at UCD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll other full members of the European Space Agency already have their own satellites,\u201d observes Dr Wall. \u201cWe need to keep pace in this fast-growing area to support Irish industry and research, and this project will build up full spacecraft systems and science payload capability in Ireland for the first time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David Murphy, a postdoctoral researcher at UCD and the Systems Engineer on EIRSAT-1, explains: \u201cThe most satisfying part of working on EIRSAT-1 is that it has brought together a large team of really dedicated students from across the University that are all focused on working together to turn our individual research topics into something that\u2019s greater than the sum of its parts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rachel Dunwoody is a PhD student who is funded by the Irish Research Council (one of eight IRC-funded students on the project). She is a member of the gamma-ray detector team and is also part of the overall flight operations team: \u201cIt is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be on a student-led team that is developing the first Irish satellite. I never imagined I would get this amazing experience so early on in my career,\u201d says Dunwoody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
EIRSAT-1 Team<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

SPACE AND THE PUBLIC<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The EIRSAT-1 project is carried out with the support of the Education Office of the ESA, under the agency\u2019s \u201cFly your Satellite!\u201d Programme. As a result the staff and students are fully committed to using this historic project as a means of educating people in Ireland about the benefits of space research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne particular aspect of the project that I enjoy is the opportunity to share the groundbreaking story of Ireland\u2019s first satellite with the public,\u201d says L\u00e1na Salmon, an IRC-funded final year PhD student who leads the EIRSAT-1 outreach activities. She is also a member of the communications team, who works to ensure two-way communications between the ground and the satellite. \u201cSpace is engaging for kids and adults alike, and the talks, events and school visits have allowed me to contribute to the project through an activity that I really enjoy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Salmon and her colleagues on the communications team have been in close contact with Ireland\u2019s large amateur radio community as they develop the communications system for EIRSAT-1. A dedicated antenna system has been installed on the roof of the Physics Building in Belfield and the team hope to be in contact with their spacecraft two or three times a day once it is in orbit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe had to put together a lot of new skill-sets and one of those was communicating with an orbiting satellite,\u201d explains David Murphy. \u201cIt has not been the easiest! We always knew we would have to link up with the amateur radio community and I have to say that we have already been getting some fantastic help from them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to this new collaboration between UCD and the radio amateurs, plans are already afoot to allow people across the country to tune in to Ireland\u2019s very own satellite after it is launched sometime in the next several years. UCD alumni who want to take an even more active part in this historic initiative and the public excitement that it is already generating should contact Dr Ronan Wall by email at space@ucd.ie<\/a> or Jordan Campbell, UCD Foundation at info@ucdfoundation.ie<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EIRSAT-1 is likely too small to be seen in the night sky, but if all goes well it may be in orbit in time for the 100th anniversary of Captain Jack Boyle first asking his famous question on the Abbey stage in 1924. He and Joxer Daly might look up at the sky again an\u2019 ass themselves the question: \u201cWhat is that new star? What is that new star?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Boyle: An\u2019, as it blowed an\u2019 blowed, I often looked up at the sky an\u2019 assed meself the question: What is the stars? What is the stars?Joxer: Ah, that\u2019s the question, that\u2019s the question: what is the stars? THE LONG-SUFFERING Juno didn\u2019t have much time for the philosophising of her ne\u2019er-do-well \u2018Paycock\u2019, but in fact,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3436,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[83],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-83"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBack In Orbit - UCD Connections<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/2021\/back-in-orbit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Back In Orbit - UCD Connections\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Boyle: An\u2019, as it blowed an\u2019 blowed, I often looked up at the sky an\u2019 assed meself the question: What is the stars? 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