Artemis II engineers visit Imperial

NASA engineers 'landed' at Imperial to inspire school students and visit world-leading space instrument facilities.

On Friday 11 September, two NASA engineers based at the NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston visited Imperial College London’s South Kensington campus for a Big Ideas NASA Live schools’ event, supported by the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851.

Howard Hu and Branelle Rodriguez were part of the Artemis II mission, NASA’s first crewed lunar flyby in half a century, which took place in April this year. Howard and Branelle are part of the leadership team for the Orion spacecraft, as Orion Program Manager and Artemis II Vehicle Manager respectively.

Howard and Branelle took part in NASA Live with Big Ideas host Lottie Selwyn. They spoke to over 200 secondary school students gathered in Imperial’s Blackett lab, with more than 50,000 8-to-18-year-olds joining online from across the country.

Howard and Branelle were then taken on a tour of Imperial’s Space Instruments Lab, a world-leading centre for space instrumentation. The tour was given by Helen O’Brien, who has led the technical teams responsible for delivering the magnetometers for ESA's Solar Orbiter, NASA's IMAP, and upcoming HelioSwarm missions, and Jonathan Eastwood, Co-Director for Imperial’s School of Convergence Science - Space, Security and Telecoms.

Meeting London’s next-generation scientists

Before the NASA engineers arrived, the audience took part in a Big Ideas space quiz, with Dr Simon Foster (Physics) delivering the answers and sharing insights into space science careers. The NASA team were then given a huge, warm welcome from the visiting students, who were ready to learn about the Artemis II mission and the spacecraft carrying astronauts to the moon, Orion.

Howard and Branelle gave a brief presentation explaining their roles in the mission and their backgrounds. The students in the room and tuning in online were then invited to ask questions which ranged from “How do astronauts shower in space?” to “What button in the spacecraft has the coolest function?” The online audience answered the question, “What would you solve first to make it possible to live on the Moon?” with their suggestions being presented in a word cloud.

Watch the recording of the livestream to find out Howard and Branelle’s answers

Touring leading space facilities

Following the event, Howard and Branelle visited Imperial’s Space Instruments Lab (SIL). Imperial is a leading institution in the development, build and operation of magnetometers in space – sensors which measure the direction and strength of magnetic fields – producing instrumentation for numerous missions including Ariel 1 (the first British-American satellite), and current major international programmes such as JUICE, IMAP and Solar Orbiter.

SIL is the newly established clean room facility supporting the development of magnetometers for NASA’s HelioSwarm and ESA’s Vigil missions. During their visit, Howard and Branelle saw development model hardware currently being assembled and tested for both programmes.

HelioSwarm will deploy a constellation of nine spacecraft (each flying an Imperial magnetometer) to investigate the dynamics of solar wind, driving innovation in the production of high-performance instruments at lower cost and with shorter assembly and test schedules. Vigil, Europe's future space weather monitoring mission, requires highly reliable instrumentation and rapid data delivery to provide advance warning of solar activity that could affect critical infrastructure on Earth.

The visitors saw the new magnetometer calibration facility, and assembly and test benches which will be used to test flight hardware. 

The Lab is part of the Space, Plasma and Climate Community, providing magnetic field data for research into Heliospheric, Solar Terrestrial, Planetary Aeronomy and Planetary Magnetospheric Physics.

Space and its role in society

Space captures the imaginations of all. As commercial companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin continue to make breakthroughs in technology, and space agencies like NASA continue to push the boundaries of space exploration, mankind discovers more about our universe, fuelling our curiosity and uncovering opportunities beyond our planet.

Novel discoveries aside, existing space technology underpins our everyday lives; from GPS to WiFi, and environmental monitoring to broadcasting. Modern life depends on space infrastructure.

As well as conducting world-leading research and developing innovative space technologies, Imperial ensures space research reaches audiences beyond academia. Through initiatives like the Centre for Societal Engagement and various longstanding outreach teams across departments, Imperial works alongside organisations, local communities, schools and the general public to facilitate interactions and experiences with scientific research.

The School of Convergence Science is a mission-led initiative building on Imperial’s world-leading research by deepening the integration of disciplines and collaborating with partners to address significant global challenges. One of the themes the School focuses on is Space, Security and Telecoms, which highlights Imperial’s recognition that pioneering space research is not only necessary but crucial for our future.

Both the Centre for Societal Engagement and School of Convergence Science are pillars of Imperial’s Science for Humanity strategy, demonstrating the university’s commitment to making science research inclusive and open, and accelerating research and innovation for society.

Images: Big Ideas / Jane Russell

NASA Live was a Big Ideas' schools event supported by the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, in partnership with Imperial’s School of Convergence Science and NASA.