SPACE/COSMOS
‘First light’ from world’s first commercial space science satellite heralds a new era for astronomical data and King’s collaborations
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Pink: Spectrum of eta UMa acquired in a single capture by Mauve on 9 February 2026 with a 5s integration time. Blue: Hubble Space Telescope STIS spectra of the same star recorded by three grisms. Credit: Blue Skies Space Ltd.
view moreCredit: Blue Skies Space Ltd.
Mauve, the world’s first commercial space science satellite, has successfully achieved ‘first light’, sending back data to astronomers about the universe for the first time.
Created by Blue Skies Space Ltd., a British space company co-founded by current King’s staff and alumni, Mauve will study stars in the ultraviolet and visible light, enabling a greater understanding of their magnetic activity, stellar flares, and how they impact the habitability of nearby exoplanets – planets that orbit stars that are not our sun.
The start-up hopes the craft will pioneer a new era of exploration founded on low-cost, rapidly built space telescopes, delivering high-quality information about the universe directly to researchers.
Professor Giovanna Tinetti, Vice Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Natural, Mathematical and Engineering Sciences and co-founder of Blue Skies Space, said of the milestone, “The launch of Mauve has been a really emotional moment – seeing the project we worked hard for a number of years being sent to space!
“But as a scientist the real excitement comes when the data start flowing in: seeing the first spectrum from Mauve has suddenly made me realise that we’ll soon do science with the first privately funded space science mission ever!"
Mauve used its 13 cm spectrophotometric telescope, designed to measure and collect data on the spectrum of light emitted by stars, to observe Eta Uma, a star 104 light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major or the Great Bear.
A hot, blue-white star, much hotter than the Sun, Eta UMa shines in ultraviolet light which makes it an ideal calibration target for an observatory collecting ultraviolet data like Mauve.
Dr Marcell Tesseny, CEO and co-founder Blue Skies Space, as well as an alumnus from the Department of Physics, said “Blue Skies Space was founded to provide access to space science data for scientists worldwide through a fleet of small, agile satellites. The first light from Mauve is a demonstration of this vision to serve the space science community.”
Throughout its three-year mission, Mauve also hopes to gather information on early-stage planetary evolution, test theories of gravity through examination of binary star systems and chart how stars live and die – in addition to research priorities highlighted by members of the science community who sign up to Mauve’s observational programme.
Image of eta UMa generated using ESA Sky. Credit: ESA/DSS2 (Digitised Sky Survey).
Credit
Credit: ESA/DSS2 (Digitised Sky Survey).
Using moon dirt to build future lunar colonies
Laser 3D printing offers sustainable foundation for in-space manufacturing
Ohio State University
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Simulated lunar dirt can be turned into extremely durable structures, potentially paving the way to more sustainable and cost-effective space missions, a new study suggests.
Using a special laser 3D printing method, researchers melted fake lunar soil – a synthetic version of the fine dusty material on the moon surface, called regolith simulant – into layers and fused it with a base surface to manufacture small, heat-resistant objects.
If utilized on the lunar surface, the material may help build sturdy, nontoxic habitats and tools for future astronauts, capabilities that would be vital to the NASA Artemis missions that aim to establish a long-term human presence on the moon by the end of the decade.
But to assess how well this new construction material may work in space, the team tested their fabrication process under a range of different environmental conditions, revealing that the overall quality of the material depends greatly on the surface onto which the soil is printed.
“By combining different feedstocks, like metal and ceramics, in the printing process, we found that the final material is really sensitive to the environment,” said Sizhe Xu, lead author of the study and a graduate research associate in industrial systems engineering at The Ohio State University. “Different environments lead to different properties, which directly affect the mechanical strength and the thermal shock resistance of certain components.”
The study was recently published in the journal Acta Astronautica.
There are two types of lunar regolith simulants that scientists use to study the surface of the moon. The one this team used, called LHS-1, is designed to replicate soil found in the lunar highlands, a heavily cratered area rife with dark-colored basaltic rock.
In this case, researchers discovered that while trying to print LHS-1 on stainless steel and glass surfaces was challenging, it adhered well to alumina-silicate ceramic, likely because the two compounds form crystals that enhance thermal stability and mechanical strength.
Other environmental factors, such as the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere, the strength of the laser and even the speed of the printing process, were also shown to impact the stability of the structure, said Sarah Wolff, senior author of the study and an assistant professor in mechanical and aerospace engineering at Ohio State.
“There are conditions that happen in space that are really hard to emulate in a simulant,” she said. “It may work in the lab, but in a resource-scarce environment, you have to try everything to maximize the flexibility of a machine for different scenarios.”
Unsurprisingly, developing special systems for prolonged space travel is one of the most challenging aspects of successful human exploration, as technologies created for In-Situ Resource Utilization, or the harnessing of local natural resources at mission destinations, must be engineered to survive extreme vacuum, dust and thermal environmental conditions.
To accomplish this, scientists are rapidly evolving additive manufacturing systems, which would help reduce the need to transport large quantities of materials and heavy equipment from Earth and enable astronauts to create an array of structures, tools and habitats.
The promise of these technologies would not only save essential mission time but also allow for extended independence as crews travel into deep space.
Still, more data is needed to overcome any potential limitations future travelers might face as they lift off for other worlds. This study, for example, suggests that instead of being powered by electricity as their printing system is on Earth, future designs of the system could likely be scaled up using solar-driven or other hybrid power architectures.
“There are so many applications that we’re working toward that with new information, the possibilities are endless,” said Xu.
This team’s work also extends beyond supporting humanity’s push to the stars, as gaining a better sense of how manufacturing might work in space could help researchers discover new ways to address critical material shortages back home, said Wolff.
“If we can successfully manufacture things in space using very few resources, that means we can also achieve better sustainability on Earth,” she said. “To that end, improving the machine’s flexibility for different scenarios is a goal we’re working really hard toward.”
Other Ohio State co-authors include Marwan Haddad, Aslan Bafahm Alamdari, Annabel Shim and Alan Luo. The study was supported by Ohio State’s Institute for Materials and Manufacturing Research and the Center for Electron Microscopy and Analysis.
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Contact: Sarah Wolff, Wolff.357@osu.edu
Written by: Tatyana Woodall, Woodall.52@osu.edu
Journal
Acta Astronautica
Article Title
Laser directed energy deposition additive manufacturing of lunar highland regolith simulant
‘Water bears’ reveal potential for adapting, protecting Martian resources
Microscopic tardigrades help inform how simulated Martian soil might support plant life and mitigate contaminants shedding from human explorers, researchers report
Penn State
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Tardigrades, a type of microscopic animal, in can reveal information about how life interacts with simulated Martian mineral deposits. The three images on top are active tardigrades in a typical Earth environment of beach sand. The bottom four images active tardigrades after some time in the simulated Martian soils, with arrows noting some mineral interactions.
view moreCredit: Provided by Corien Bakermans/Penn State
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Tardigrades, commonly known as water bears, may be better suited by a new name: Tardiguardians of the Galaxy. Unlike the fictional ragtag team of unenthusiastic heroes, the microscopic animals are providing real insight into how humans could adapt extraterrestrial resources to support space exploration, as well as whether such resources could help protect against the Earthly contaminants that humans might shed.
Co-led by Penn State Altoona Professor of Microbiology Corien Bakermans, an international research team recently found that tardigrade activity — a key indicator of their health — was significantly reduced when they were placed in simulated Martian regolith. That’s the loose mineral deposits covering a planet’s or moon’s bedrock, similar to soil on Earth. However, simply washing the regolith with water prior to introducing the tardigrades appeared to remove some harmful element and mostly mitigate the impact on their activity. The findings, published in International Journal of Astrobiology, are a small step towards a giant leap for humanity, according to Bakermans.
“When considering sending people to non-Earth environments, we need to understand two things: how the environment will impact the people and how the people will impact the environment,” said Bakermans, who coordinates the Penn State Altoona’s biology program. “With this research, we’re looking at a potential resource for being able to grow plants as part of establishing a healthy community — but we’re also looking at whether there are any inherent damaging conditions in the regolith that could help protect against contamination from Earth, which is a goal of planetary protection.”
Planetary protection refers to keeping extraterrestrial bodies safe from Earth contaminants and vice versa. It also strives to keep the science enabled by space exploration — whether by humans or robot — as free of contaminants as possible. The practice was agreed upon by multiple countries and is regulated by several space agencies, including NASA.
In other words, Bakermans said, if a planet contains its own defense mechanism for extraterrestrial invaders in the regolith covering its surface, then that may be one less concern for those planning space missions. However, such a mechanism would likely mean that humans hoping to establish a base would be unable to adapt the regolith to support their needs, like growing food. If the defense were strong enough, it could also directly harm humans.
“We know a lot about bacteria and fungi in simulated regolith, but very little about how they impact animals — even microscopic animals, like tardigrades,” Bakermans said, explaining that simulated regolith is designed to precisely mimic the mineral and chemical composition of what’s available on Mars’ surface. “We investigated the specific, isolated impact of the regolith on tardigrades.”
The researchers used two Martian regolith simulants, both of which mimic the regolith that NASA’s Curiosity Rover sampled from the Rocknest deposit at the Gale Crater, south of the planet’s equator. One simulant, MGS-1, was developed first to serve as a “global” regolith representing the planet’s surface at large. The other, OUCM-1, was developed later to more closely imitate the specific sampling area, which specific attention to chemical composition in addition to mineral makeup.
Bakermans mixed active tardigrades with samples of each regolith simulant and used a microscope to check their activity levels over several days.
“For the MGS-1 simulant, we saw significant inhibition — reduced activity — within two days,” Bakermans said. “It was very damaging compared to OUCM-1, which was still inhibitory but much less so.”
Tardigrades have two states: active and dormant. In their dormant state, which is typically achieved via severe dehydration, they can survive the vacuum of space, the depths of the ocean and nearly everything in between. When made active via rehydration, tardigrades are slightly more delicate but still capable of remaining active in freezing temperatures, changing food availability and other difficult conditions. The tardigrades exposed to MGS-1, however, did not exhibit activity after only two days of exposure.
“We were a little surprised by how damaging MGS-1 was,” Bakermans said. “We theorized that there might be something specific in the simulant that could be washed away.”
The researchers rinsed MGS-1 with water and mixed it with fresh tardigrades. Those tardigrades had almost no reduced activity.
“It seems that there’s something very damaging in MGS-1 that can dissolve in water — maybe salts or some other compound,” Bakermans said, noting the team was investigating further. “That was unexpected, but it’s good in a sense, because it means that the regolith’s defense mechanism could stop contaminants. At the same time, it can be washed to help support plant growth or prevent damage to humans who come in contact with it.”
Water is scarce in space, so washing regolith isn’t a perfect solution, but Bakermans said understanding that the harmful component can be washed away is helpful in building a useful knowledge base.
In addition to studying the effects of specific regolith constituents, the researchers are also exploring additional conditions — such as atmospheric pressure and temperature differences — that may impact activity.
“Regolith isn’t the only component, of course,” Bakermans said. “But we’re beginning to tease apart components of this overall system where any single piece could be a drawback or benefit the larger understanding of planetary protection.”
Matteo Vecchi, Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals at the Polish Academy of Sciences; and Gillian Pearce, College of Engineering and Physical Sciences at Aston University in the U.K., co-authored the paper with Bakermans.
Penn State Altoona’s Office of Research and Engagement; and the POLONEZ BIS programme, co-funded by the European Commission and the Polish National Science Centre under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie COFUND grant, supported this research.
Tardigrades in motion [VIDEO]
The first clip shows a tardigrade on its first day in OUCM-1, moving normally. Two days later, however, the simulant began to impact the tardigrade’s ability to move normally, as seen in the second clip. The other simulant, MGS-1, inhibited activity much earlier — until it was washed with water. Then, as seen in the third clip, it barely impacted tardigrade activity at all. The non-tardigrade bits visible in the second and third clips are simulant particles.
Credit
Provided by Corien Bakermans/Penn State
Journal
International Journal of Astrobiology
Article Title
Short-term survival of tardigrades (Ramazzottius cf. varieornatus and Hypsibius exemplaris) in martian regolith simulants (MGS-1 and OUCM-1)
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