University of Regina team hoping to help send humans to Mars with new airlock prototype
A team from the University of Regina, known as Celestial Labs, has created a national award-winning airlock prototype that they hope will allow humans to visit Mars in the future.
“An airlock is a bridge between two environments that need to stay separate,” Anwit Adhikari, the division head for structure and design at Celestial Labs, said. “An airlock is essentially a small room that is attached outside the spacecraft so if you’re trying to exit into the void of space or Mars, you’d first enter [the airlock] and the doors would close, then you’d open the other door an go outside, therefore keeping the atmosphere isolated.”
The team had to consider a number of factors when building a structure for Mars. Those include, but are not limited to, a structure immune to radiation, wind loads, gravity, temperature and pressure.
“This will be one of the first operational Martian airlock [prototypes] in Canada’s history if we do it right,” Adhikari said. “I never thought we would get this far.”
They also had to ensure the airlock would be safe for use on Mars.
“Previous airlocks would just be inflatables because there was no gravity. Astronauts could essentially float outside,” he said. “Because Mars has a non negligible gravity, and astronauts will be walking in there, it needs to have a structure that can hold the shape of the airlock.”
He said this airlock also has an electronic system that is as simple as possible because of radiation levels.
Finally, the fabric used for the airlock has to stand up to the environment. Mylar and aerogel are used for insulation purposes. The polymer being used to give the airlock structure inside is still private information to the team.
Celestial Labs first started working on the prototype in 2018, when the University of British Columbia announced a national competition to see which school could design and build the best airlock for Mars.
“This was taken in light of the consideration the Elon Musk is planning to do a man mission to Mars in the next few years,” Adhikari said.
The competition had two phases. The first was held in 2019 and was focused on design. In 2021, phase two focused on a built prototype. Celestial Labs from the University of Regina won both.
“I’m just really proud that a small group from an underdog university can beat all the big shots of the University of Waterloo and the University of Toronto,” Samuel Reddekop, the chief of electronics design with Celestial Labs, said.
The team originally set out just to win the competition, but because of their years of work and success, their sights are now set even higher.
“Because we designed the airlock with real constraints in mind, somewhere along the line we thought maybe this is a technology that the industry could appreciate or find use for,” Adhikari said.
Within the next few months, the team will complete the prototype. They then plan to present it to industry professionals.
“We don’t expect that the whole airlock will be used by the industry, but we are hopeful that certain subsystems that we worked on for three years now will be applicable to certain aspects,” he said. “The most optimistic target would be that it would actually be used in Mars. We will work as hard as we can to get there, but in the event that that doesn’t happen, we are hoping it will find some use in earth-like terrestrial applications.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Rainfall warnings of up to 80 mm among weather alerts in effect for 6 provinces
Rainfall warnings of up to 90 millimetres and other alerts have been issued for six Canadian provinces, according to the latest forecasts.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
Bus plunges off a bridge in South Africa, killing 45 people. An 8-year-old child is only survivor
A bus carrying worshippers headed to an Easter festival plunged off a bridge on a mountain pass and burst into flames in South Africa on Thursday, killing at least 45 people, authorities said.
Calgary bridges remain closed due to ongoing police incident
Calgary police have shut down a number of bridges into and out of the downtown core as officers deal with a distraught individual.