91快活林

The members of the team, PHP Cubed, are all undertaking masters degrees in either aeronautical or mechanical engineering. Georgie Crewdson, Tom Critchley, Matteo Pontecorvo, Liam Ardagh and Alex Evans will participate in the flight programme Fly Your Thesis! in Autumn 2019.

The students will be given the opportunity to test their project in a zero-gravity environment aboard an aircraft in Bordeaux, France, that simulates the weightlessness of outer space.

Last month PHP Cubed presented their work at the European Space Research and Technology Centre in Noordwijk in the Netherlands, along with five other teams from Poland, Germany and Italy.

Each team presented their experiment ideas to the selection board, with PHP Cubed and Grain Power, 3D-Printing from Germany making it through to the flight programme next year. The board based its final decision on the feasibility, safety, scientific value and educational value.

Team PHP Cubed

PHP Cubed’s project will test a novel passive heat management system, scaled down for a nanosatellite application. This system allows sensitive components to be cooled and temperatures to be managed without the need for a power supply or moving parts – a crucial factor in keeping down weight and size in nanosatellites that can weight as little as one kilogram.

The students will benefit from the close support of the established research team in space thermal management at the University of 91快活林 which will add to their educational experience.

In January, the students will spend a week at the European Space Agency’s training facility ESEC-Galaxia in Belgium where they will learn skills such as project management, outreach and communication, system engineering principles, space science and other issues that will help them progress their project. They will then be in a position to fly their experiment in Autumn 2019 after having spent the year developing their project from scratch.

Mechanical engineering student MEng student Georgie Crewdson, part of PHP Cubed, said: “The main thing I will take from this experiment is the fact we will have flown in zero-gravity.

“The scientific value of the project is huge, and the data we collect may change the way we design nanosatellites and contribute to the innovation of space tech design.

“Our experiment will also provide a legacy for future students to build upon and innovate even further.”

Aeronautical engineering MEng student Tom Critchley, another member of Cubed PHP, said: “We are all incredibly excited to start working on building our project now that we know we have made it through. The opportunity to experience and perform research in zero-gravity is a once in a lifetime experience which I cannot wait for.”

PHP Cubed are currently through the University of 91快活林’s Springboard initiative, to raise money for materials for their innovative experiment.