Skip to main content

The Suborbital Research Association: Using Suborbital Platforms for Scientific and Student Experiments

Microgravity Science and Technology volume 28, pages 529–544 (2016)Cite this article

Abstract

The Suborbital Research Association (SRA), created in Brussels in June 2013, seeks to raise the awareness of the scientific community to the possibilities for scientific and technological research purposes offered by long suborbital trajectories, yielding several minutes of continuous microgravity at an attractive cost. The SRA, which is open to all forms of cooperation, has set its objectives: “to encourage, to assist, to facilitate and to promote suborbital scientific research; to give the necessary assistance, within the possibilities of the Association, to the practical realization of fundamental and applied scientific research in the suborbital environment, independently and in a complementary manner to existing structures; to organize or to participate in the organization of promotion events of scientific research in suborbital flights to the general public, the youth and the students.” The first on-going project of the SRA is to organize a first scientific flight with the XCOR Lynx suborbital spaceplane in 2016 or 2017 to perform scientific and student experiments. A SRA Selection Committee evaluated 17 experiment proposals from six European countries and recommended ten experiments for this first flight: five scientific and technological experiments from European Scientists, a historical promotional experiment, and four student experiments from Belgian secondary schools. Further flights will be organised as soon as possible. The paper presents the SRA and put in context the proposed use of suborbital platforms for microgravity research. The selected experiments are further introduced.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price includes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14
Fig. 15
Fig. 16
Fig. 17
Fig. 18
Fig. 19
Fig. 20
Fig. 21

Notes

  1. http://www.suborbital-research.org/

  2. http://www.thespaceshipcompany.com/

  3. http://www.virgingalactic.com/

  4. http://www.xcor.com/

  5. http://xcor.com/lynx/

  6. https://www.blueorigin.com/

  7. http://www.s-3.ch/

  8. https://www.vki.ac.be/

  9. http://lphys.ulb.ac.be/projets/parabolic-flights/

  10. https://fis.dshs-koeln.de/portal/en/

  11. http://www.en.uni-muenchen.de/about_lmu_alt/academics/faculties/fak_07_medizin/index.html

  12. https://www.uantwerpen.be/en/rg/aurea/organisation/about-aurea/

  13. http://www.laika-isen.fr/

  14. http://etopia.sintlucas.be/3.14/

  15. http://www.tisuka.com/#!ishango-milele/c23kg

  16. http://www.sint-pieterscollegebasis.be/

  17. http://www.college-st-michel.info/wp/

References

  • Amar, B: Résonateurs MEMS à base d’hétérostructures AlGaN/GaN (AlGaN/GaN heterostructures based MEMS resonators), Thesis, University of Lille 1; http://ori.univ-lille1.fr/notice/view/univ-lille1-ori-119151, last accessed 11 February 2016 (2012)

  • Huylebrouck, D. (ed.): Ishango, 22000 and 50 years later: the cradle of mathematics? Conference proceedings, Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium, Brussels (2008)

  • Migeotte, P F, Tank, J, Pattyn, N, Funtova, I, Baevsky, R, Neyt, X, Prisk, G K: Three dimensional ballistocardiography: methodology and results from microgravity and dry immersion. Conf. Proc. IEEE Eng. Med. Biol. Soc. 2011, 4271–4274 (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  • Migeotte, P F, Deliere, Q, Tank, J, Funtova, I, Baevsky, R, Neyt, X, Pattyn, N: 3D-ballistocardiography in microgravity: comparison with ground based recordings. Conf. Proc. IEEE Eng. Med. Biol. Soc. 2013, 7012–7016 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  • Pletser, V., Huylebrouck, D.: The Ishango artifact: the missing base 12 link. In: Proceedings of the Katachi U Symmetry Congress KUS2, paper C11, Tsukuba Univ., Japan, 18 Nov. 1999; Forma 14-4, pp. 339–346 (1999)

  • Schneider, S., Brummer, V., Carnahan, H., Dubrowski, A., Askew, C.D., Struder, H.K.: What happens to the brain in weightlessness? A first approach by EEG tomography. Neuroimage 42(4), 1316–1323 (2008). doi:S1053-8119(08)00757-X [pii]

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simonini, A., Vetrano, M.R., Colinet, P., Rambaud, P.: Particle Image Velocimetry applied to water sloshing due to a harmonic external excitation. In: Proceedings of 17th International Symposium on Applications of Laser Techniques to Fluid Mechanics, Lisbon (2014)

  • Strewe, C., Feuerecker, M., Nichiporuk, I., Kaufmann, I., Hauer, D., Morukov, B., Schelling, G., Choukèr, A.: Effects of parabolic flight and spaceflight on the endocannabinoid system in humans [Original Article]. Rev. Neurosci. 23(5–6), 673–680 (2012). doi:10.1515/revneuro-2012-0057

    Google Scholar 

  • Toth, B., Lema, M. R., Anthoine, J., Steelant, J.: Assessment of slag accumulation in solid rocket boosters: Part II, two-phase flow experiments. In: Proceedings of the 42nd AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit, pp. 2006–4430. AIAA Paper, Sacramento (2006)

  • Van Ombergen, A., Jeurissen, B., Demertzi, A., Heine, L., Sinitsyn, V., Mershina, E., Pechenkova, E., Sunaert, S., Laureys, S., Kozlovskaya, I., Tomilovskaya, E., Sijbers, J., Parizel, P.M., Loeckx, D., Van de Heyning, P.H., Morukov, B.V., Choukèr, A., Lutz, J., Schelling, G., Wuyts, F.L.: Neuroplasticity in Astronauts Studied with Novel MRI Methods: Preliminary Results of the BRIAN DTI Project Presented at the 19th IAA Humans in Space Symposium, Cologne, Germany (9 July) (2013)

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. SRA, Brussels, Belgium

    V. Pletser, P. F. Migeotte, J. C. Legros, B. Deneyer & R. Caron

  2. Free University of Brussels, Brussels, Belgium

    P. F. Migeotte & J. C. Legros

Authors
  1. V. Pletser
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. P. F. Migeotte
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. J. C. Legros
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. B. Deneyer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. R. Caron
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to V. Pletser.

Additional information

This article belongs to the Topical Collection: Advances in Gravityrelated Phenomena in Biological, Chemical and Physical Systems

Guest Editors: Valentina Shevtsova, Ruth Hemmersbach

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Pletser, V., Migeotte, P.F., Legros, J.C. et al. The Suborbital Research Association: Using Suborbital Platforms for Scientific and Student Experiments. Microgravity Sci. Technol. 28, 529–544 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12217-016-9502-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12217-016-9502-0

Keywords

  • Microgravity
  • Suborbital flight
  • Research and student experiments
  • Spaceplane