Space Apps Challenge 2018

CRITICAL ISSUES

1. Preservation of the data stored in the DNA

From the information that are available nowadays, the DNA must go through a dehydration process in order to be conserved for long periods. Moreover, the conservation temperature of the DNA must be low; due to the fact that we don’t actually know if the biologic material could be preserved at 2-3K (that is the temperature of the interstellar space), in order to be sure that the DNA remains safe during its journey, it is necessary to have a temperature inside the capsule that is similar to the ones we use here on Earth to preserve DNA for long periods.

It is then necessary to heat the capsule, and to do so we need energy, which could be obtained through propulsion systems.

1. Choice of the destination of the capsule

One of the issues that humanity would have to face in order to send a time capsule in the outer solar system is the trajectory of the interstellar spacecraft that hosts the capsule. We discussed about many possible solutions; in our opinion, the most interesting one is the following.

The SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) project is trying to find advanced extraterrestrial civilizations by detecting Gamma-ray bursts, that could be originated by intelligent forms of life. There is evidence suggesting that these rays are coming from outside our galaxy, the Milky Way. For this reason, a possible solution to the problem could be to project a trajectory that allows the spacecraft to go out from our galaxy.

An important feature the interstellar spacecraft should have is the possibility of autonomous orbit determination: in case artificial signals are detected aboard the spacecraft, it should change trajectory in order to follow the direction where they stem from.

1. Propulsion of the interstellar spacecraft

In order to achieve the result of bringing the spacecraft not only outside our solar system, but also outside our Galaxy, it is necessary to deeply study the propulsion system of the craft; this is probably the main issue of our project: we should find some way to be able to correct the trajectory during all the journey of the spacecraft, otherwise the capsule could be captured by the gravity attraction of a solar system that is in the Milky Way.

On the other hand, the positive aspect of our mission from a propulsive stem point is that time is not a problem. Since we only have to educate an advanced space faring civilization about humanity and our solar system and not to have a proper dialogue with it, it is sufficient to assure that the capsule will be safe during its journey and not necessary to achieve the result in a relative small time frame. For this reason, propulsion systems with high specific impulse and low thrust/weight ratio could be used in general (even if we need some chemical propulsion systems to escape possible gravity attractions).

In the light of all the considerations that have been made so far, the possible solutions for the propulsion system could be:

-) Solar Sail propulsion, when the spacecraft is a relatively small distance from the Sun;

-) Radioscope electric propulsion.

Both of the systems have already been studied for missions in the outer solar system and near-interstellar space; further studies could bring to a solution also for interstellar navigation.

We decided to improve the past missions remixing the aim of the mission itself (connecting with space faring advanced civilization), with a set of new values and meanings.

Our project aim to:

SHORT TERM GOALS

-understand and distillate the essence of human beings

-inspire and involve people to find similarities and not differences

-educate people to rediscover their senses and basic logical processes

LONG TERM GOALS

-sending a human crafted object as far as never before

-make a contact with space faring advanced civilizations

-receive back the time capsule with informations about space civilizations

TIME CAPSULE

PHASE 1- Action and reaction

Repetition of a single sound/vibration

Repetition of a series of vibrations

Associate right answers with long and low frequency vibration (happy emotion)

Associate wrong answers with short and high frequency vibration (unhappy emotion)

PHASE 2- Basis of logic

Game

Emitting 1 vibration, 2 vibrations, 3 vibrations

Waiting for the correct execution

Emitting 1 vibration, 2 vibrations

Waiting for 3 vibrations

Step by step educate to binary code

PHASE 3- Access to the Data

Give information about the DNA data storage

Access to the data

COMPONENTS

External protecting shell

Vibration actuator and detector

DNA storage system

Solar panels

Logic processor

Concept Generation

A puzzle box for interstellar civilizations which uses primal instincts and intuitions to educate, the essence and basic elements forming the human lives.

Our first step was to try to distillate the essence of humanity and its solar system.

For doing that we reframed the challenge into:

How may we condense the essence of humanity and the solar system in a time capsule and send it to the outer space, in order to create a bond between us and an advanced space faring civilization?

CHALLENGE

We chose the challenge of “Mix the Golden Records” because we were fascinated by:

-the thrill of connecting with other forms of interstellar civilizations

-the opportunity to rediscover humanity and its solar system

-the chance to dig inside the essence of what makes us humane

-the idea of creating a common feeling of belonging for creating a more sustainable and unified world citizenship

Since the challenge was related to a time capsule, so an object that has to deal with time, space and occasion, we decided to call ourselves Kairos.

Kairos (καιρός) is an ancient greek words that literally means “the right moment, the occasion”.

It was one of the word that was conveying the meaning of time, but in sense of “moment in between” in which something special is going to happen.

While the word chronos (χρόνος) means time in a quantitative way, kairos express the qualitative expression of time.

Hello!

We are Kairos.

Let’s introduce us better:

Saloni Luktuke

Country: India

Age: 24

Background: B.Des Product Design MIT Institute of Design, Pune India ; Masters in Strategic Design, Poli.Design, Milano

#experiencedesign

#travel

#nostalgia

Pietro Urbani

Country: Italy

Age: 23

Background: Strategic Design

#alwaysaskwhy

#thinkingoutofthebox

#designyourlife

Riccardo Masiero

Country: Italy

Age: 22

Background: BSc in Aerospace engineering

#theoryofeverything

#outerspaceresearch

#helphumanity

Andrea Carlo Morelli

Country: Italy

Age: 22

Background: BSc in Aerospace Engineering at Polimi

#spaceexploration

#curiosity

#sustainability

Bianca Luce Bonetti

Country: Milan, Italy

Age: 25 years old

Background: Master Degree in Strategic Design (Poli.Design, Milan)

and Bachelor in Gastronomic Sciences (University of Gastronomic Sciences, Pollenzo CN)

#everyonehastherighttobeauty

#friendsmatter

#makingwineisanart