A PROJECT by six talented students from the University of Warwick to send worms into space and study the impact it has on them has caught the eye of both the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA.
Members of the university’s satellite engineering team (WUSAT) will travel to the ESA learning centre in Redu, Belgium, where they will highlight their latest research project.
The group is working on a Low Earth Orbit satellite known as a Cubesat, which will allow scientists at the University of Exeter to monitor microscopic worms’ activities in controlled conditions.
The project will also look into the worm’s ability to reproduce and continue to provide biomass during a remote space mission to help understand what causes health decline in space.
This knowledge can then be used to create new medicines to play a crucial role in developing safer human space travel.
Engineering students at WUSAT are given the chance to design, build and launch their own satellite.
The WUSAT programme has hosted several ground-breaking projects, including helping to launch a moon-orbiting satellite, achieving the first successful ejected satellite mission, and using satellites to track electronically tagged wildlife from space.
Up to nine engineers are selected to join WUSAT every year, with students applying to join in for their fourth-year engineering course.
More than 100 WUSAT alumni have forged career paths in high-tech industry as the next generation of space engineers.
Student and WUSAT team member Seb Fieldhouse said: “Working on the satellite has been a brilliant opportunity – I’ve learnt so much about space systems engineering.
“Being part of WUSAT has also opened up a lot of opportunities.
“We visited engineering facilities at Airbus and now, because of our work on WUSAT, we have the chance to learn satellite systems engineering from the very best at ESA.
“I’m very excited to go to Belgium to learn from the experts at ESA – it’s a great chance to develop my skills as an engineer.”
University of Exeter professor Tim Etherbridge added: “This project is an important step in developing crucial medicines for safe human space travel and working with the WUSAT team to fly our new equipment to examine worms in space is an exciting chance to take advantage of easier access space, including launches from UK soil.”
