experiments

Dust Understanding for Solar Technology Yield (DUSTY)

Space is a dangerous and relentless, throwing challenges to everybody who dares venture into the unknown. Collecting and understanding data from an alien world is key to survival, that is why my experiment is going to be about the study of the danger of dust from Martian storms. These storms are not very well understood and the dust they pick up can be hazardous for the vital equipment such as the solar panels. I will use two weather stations that will track luminosity, air pressure, wind speed and temperature for two weeks and use my mapping skills to figure out if the environment around the MDRS is suitable for sensitive equipment or not. One of the weather stations will be stationary during the two weeks and the other will be mobile, moved each day to a new location to try and gauge the exposition to dust and wind.

Mapping the Martian Frontier: High-Fidelity Topographic Perspectives for Strategic Landing Site Selection

An overlooked aspect of a Mars exploration mission is the selection of the landing site location. Whether it is for the initial landing, or for the establishment of a base, the chosen location must meet a lot of mission-critical criteria. Most orbital-produced topographic maps of Mars suffer from a of lack of spatial resolution. My research project will hence be focused on the production of high-fidelity topographic maps of the study area using a method known as photogrammetry, along with UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) technology.

Isolation Insights: A Psychological Expedition into Mars Crew Dynamics

Human behavior has always intrigued me. So I decided to bring a touch of psychology to the experiment. My experiment will therefore involve obtaining very detailed profiles of the crew members through personality tests, in order to analyze how these different personality types deal with the group’s isolation during the potentially stressful MARS experience.

Lactobacillus Helveticus as a beneficial probiotic for mental health in space missions

The space environment poses a unique challenge to astronauts’ mental health due to prolonged confinement and isolation. These conditions can induce high levels of stress, increasing the risk of mood disorders and interpersonal conflicts, thereby affecting mental health and reducing motivation. Understanding and addressing these stress factors are crucial to ensure that astronauts maintain mental well-being throughout their missions and preserve their full cognitive abilities.

There is a growing interest in the connections between the digestive system and the brain, often referred to as the gut-brain axis. Exploring the link between microbiota and stress is of particular interest. Some probiotics have been studied for their potential positive impact on mental health. Lactobacillus Helveticus, already recognized for its role in the prevention and treatment of Candida albicans, is one such probiotic. Preliminary research suggests that Lactobacillus Helveticus may play a role in regulating mood and anxiety, opening up new possibilities for psychological support approaches for astronauts in the space environment.

This project aims to investigate a novel approach to mitigate space confinement stress by assessing the effectiveness of supplementation with Lactobacillus Helveticus.

Effect of glycine alone or in combination with slow-paced breathing on sleep and stress

Astronauts frequently report sleep disturbances and increased stress levels experienced before and during their missions. Given the close relationship between these variables and the well-being, productivity, and safety of space actors, it seems crucial to propose interventions adapted to their living conditions.

On the side of easily implementable, time-efficient, and financially cost-effective interventions, glycine, an amino acid, has shown promising effects on sleep quality and quantity, as has the slow-paced breathing technique. This technique involves breathing at a predetermined rhythm to reduce respiratory rate. Physiologically, this type of cardiorespiratory intervention can have an almost immediate impact on the nervous system, potentially leading to positive outcomes such as reducing stress-related manifestations and promoting sleep.

Thus, the aim of my study will be to evaluate the potential effects of oral glycine supplementation alone or in combination with slow-paced breathing training on sleep and stress management by measuring several physiological parameters such as heart rate, heart rate variability, and sleep architecture.

Effect of glycine and Lactobacillus Helveticus on the immune system in space missions

In literature, there is evidence that certain factors related to space flights may impact the immune system of astronauts, such as microgravity but also radiation exposure, isolation, and stress: radiation exposure can damage immune cells and increase the risk of infections, while isolation and stress can cause psychological and physiological changes that may impair immune function. Also, it has been reported that a dysregulation occurs in astronauts’ immunity (pro-inflammatory and Th1 responses) during long-term spaceflight.

It has been reported that Glycine and Lactobacillus Helveticus (LH) can exert not only beneficial anti-inflammatory, but also immunomodulatory effects in vivo, promoting homeostasis in an organism. During the martian simulation, oral supplementation with both Glycine and LH will be followed by the participants. Before, during and after the simulation, blood and saliva will be collected to study immune cell populations and antibody (IgM, IgD, IgG, IgA, IgE) and cytokine production (Th1/Th2/Th17 profiles).

These markers will be evaluated and compared with the corresponding placebo group to confirm their beneficial effects.

AI-Powered Mission Support

During the M.A.R.S. UCLouvain mission, team members will be confronted with an unpredictable environment. A great deal of preparation is required to cope with unexpected situations. To support the crew and help them carry out tasks and make the right decisions, I propose to use an artificial intelligence (AI) stored locally on a computer.
The AI would be trained throughout the year with mission information, such as scientific objectives, technical constraints and safety protocols. In this way, it could provide useful information and advice tailored to the specific circumstances of the mission.
AI could be used as a tool similar to ChatGPT, enabling team members to ask questions and get answers quickly and easily. It could also be used to monitor environmental conditions and report any significant changes that might affect the mission.
To take the idea a step further, I propose transforming the AI into a voice assistant using a program. This would enable team members to communicate with it without having to use a keyboard or screen, which could be particularly useful during spacewalks or in other situations where the hands are busy.

Building the Future on Mars: In-Situ Reaction Synthesis for Sustainable Colonies

Thanks to the previous work done by fellow scientists, I will first write a paper on the synthesization of sustainable colonies based on in-situ reaction at different key localization. Based on my theoretical approach, i will then create, demonstrate and test different physical and chemical processes to confirm the validity of my theoretical work.

Observations and spectral analysis of planets

The location of Mars and the fact that it does not have magnetic fields or atmosphere make it the perfect spot to observe our solar system. We will thus make use of the Musk Observatory and optic spectrometers to proceed to measurements of the spectrum emitted by planets from our solar system. Once the spectrum is recorded, we’ll analyze it and will be able to determine the atmospheric composition of the observed object. We will also employ the telescope to take pictures of planets and other celestial bodies. There will be two supernovae, that have recently exploded and that will be fully visible!

Geological presrciption with UV

The purpose of the project is to find the presence of ancient water channels in desert. The methodology consists in finding a place that we assume to be a dry channel. The evaporite minerals (halite, gypsum, etc.) have the capacity to fluoresce when they are lighted by ultraviolet waves (long and short). The procedure will consist to collect samples of minerals along the dry channel and to reference and localize all of them with the GPS. The second part of the study will be the lighting of the sample with the UV light and test the minerals with hydrochloric acid (HCl) (for the Carbonates). When the samples are referenced as evaporitics or no, they are put in a map with the software ArcMap from the ESRI suite, ArcGIS. The result will be a map with all the samples which will delimit the rivers. With these results it will be possible set the presence of an ancient river

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