Space Apps Challenge 2018

Y para ti, participante que en busca de información ha caido en nuestro proyecto!

Sirvete de cuanto hemos hecho, completa nuestro trabajo y consigue el premio que nosotros no hemos conseguido! Espero que nuestro trabajo te sea de gran ayuda, y que disfrutes tanto como nosotros de esta experiencia.

Pisando fuerte!

-Aperture Science

Desde nuestro equipo, queriamos dedicar unas palabras al equipo organizador y jurado.

Ha sido un placer participar en este proyecto. Ha estado llena de datos interesantes, momentos de risas, momentos de nervios; pero siempre con un gran ambiente y muy buena ayuda entre staff y equipos. Nos sentimos profundamente agradecidos por la oportunidad que se nos ha brindado, ya no como estudiantes de bachiller, sino como pequeños profesionales, que aspiran a un futuro grande. Sin duda, gracias a vosotros hemos podido vivir una experiencia altamente enriquecedora, y nuestro mensaje no es más que gracias gracias y gracias, por todo.

Jorge Luri Vañó - Miembro de Aperture Science

Narrowing down the information we will include in the time capsule:

In the end, we decided to take off some of the old ideas as we believe not everything was extremely important to represent humanity. In the end we decided to keep:

- Way of counting

- Language

- Our customs

- Songs

- Arts and books

- Sciences

- Human values

- Information about our solar system

We will then work on what to put in each of these "folders".

How can we make it decipherable by any society:

- We will emit in all the sound frequencies from 1Hz to 212KHz (level for bats and moths) in case they do not hear in the same frequencies as we do (20-20 000Hz).

- We will emit in all the light frequencies: visible, infrared, ultraviolet because animals see in infrared and ultraviolet.

In the case the civilization does not have eyes or any visual receptors, it will be very hard for them to catch the information.

What we could include in the time capsule:

- Our way of counting

- Our language

- Human habits

- Our solar system

- Songs

- Literature

- Movies

- Human philosophy

- Sciences

- Human values

- History

- Human anatomy

- Arts

- How to contact us

- Our conception of religion ....

Way of getting spotted by extraterrestrial societies:

The huge system will emit radio waves 24/24h so that a potential extraterrestrial society can spot it. As we know they are an advanced spacefaring civilization, they must be able to catch these radio waves and so be able to catch the time capsule.

The shape of the product:

The time capsule will be stocked in the middle of a number of superconducting solenoids to be protected from radiations. This part will also be stocked in a sphere. We chose the shape of a sphere because it is a shape that absorbs the energy from impacts. The time capsule would finally be stocked in a rectangle.

The superconducting solenoids are of dimensions 15-20m x 4-8m. It weighs 50 tons. This means that what we will be sending into space a huge thing (a lot bigger than previous projects).

In order to not waste the batteries during the cruise we thought about putting a ball (made of a conducting material) in a tube. The ball would be sustained by two small magnets. When the time capsule will start orbiting a planet, the gravitational force will make the ball fall. The ball will fall on an open electric circuit. As it conducts electricity, batteries will start working and so nothing will have been wasted.

This makes our time capsule totally autonomous.

Things to consider when it comes to traveling in space:

- The fact of colliding with an object

- Radiations because with time, they will break every the capsule

- Temperature

- Battery autonomy...

Some solutions to these problems:

- To avoid colliding, we will use the SEXTANT Navigation System which uses X rays to detect an object moving very fast in a radius of more than 10km. It is totally autonomous.

- To avoid radiations, we will use a set of six superconducting solenoids to deflect them. We say six because this is what was used in previous missions but we believe we can use a smaller number of them if what needs to be protected is smaller. These solenoids also protect from the extreme temperatures in space.

- About the battery, we are trying to find a way of having tens of thousands of years of autonomy. We thought about using different batteries that would recharge each other each time but as we loose a percentage of the energy every time, it is not a solution. We then thought about using the NASA radioisotope thermoelectric generator that was used on other missions but this only lives about 14 years. Afterwards, we tried thinking about freezing the batteries and thawing them when they will be needed but we don't have the technology to do so. Finally, we decided using simple solar panels like lots of other satellites.

The Golden Record Cover (1977):

Pros:

- Very solid (gold)

- Written in binary number system

- Use of 238 Uranium isotope on top of the gold so that we can deduce from the number of decays, the age of the disk. This would be a very advanced deduction... It's almost impossible that someone understands it.

Cons:

- Very hard to understand

- Written in binary number system (not our main system) but can be simpler to understand in some cases

- Use of hydrogen atom to represent the number 1. Although it is a good idea as a hydrogen atom is something that every some kind of advanced society knows, it can be quite hard to see the relationships between the 1 from the hydrogen and the number 1.

- They designed things on the disk. We now have a lot better technologies that would allow us to put a lot more information...

Pioneer Plaque (2018):

Pros:

- Use of distances

- Human images

- Indications as to where our planet is situated

Cons:

- If the society does not see, the plaque is useless

- Could use more advanced technologies

APOD (2005):

Pros:

- Use of binary number system

- Explanation of how the decimal number system works

- Explanations about the hydrogen and carbon atoms as well as our conception of other molecules

- How our DNA works

- Basic information on our solar system

- Basic information on where we are

Cons:

- The same as above

- Could use more advanced technologies

The APOD (2006) is just an improved version of the 2005 one.

Brainstorming:

Part 1:

- What defines humanity

- How can the time capsule survive in space for such a long time?

- How can we stock the information so that it is easily transmitted?

- How will the audience decipher the information?

Part 2:

- Previous missions: pros and cons

- Research on these missions: Pioneer plaques, Voyager golden records, the Arecibo message, Teen Age Message, and Cosmic Call messages...

- How can we make improvements?

Things to think about:

- Dark forest theory

- Evolution of our mentality compared to the time it will be in space

- Easy to decipher information

- Autonomy in space ...