{"id":962445,"date":"2021-12-21T05:07:32","date_gmt":"2021-12-21T10:07:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/?p=962445"},"modified":"2021-12-21T05:07:32","modified_gmt":"2021-12-21T10:07:32","slug":"raspberry-pi-computers-are-speeding-to-the-international-space-station","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/?p=962445","title":{"rendered":"Raspberry Pi computers are speeding to the International Space Station"},"content":{"rendered":"

This morning, our two new Astro Pi units launched into space. Actual, real-life space. The new Astro Pi units each consist of<\/a> a Raspberry Pi computer with a Raspberry Pi High Quality Camera and a host of sensors, all housed inside a special space-ready case that makes the hardware suitable for the International Space Station (ISS).<\/p>\n

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\"Astro<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The journey to space for two special Raspberry Pi computers<\/h2>\n

Today\u2019s launch is the culmination of a huge piece of work we\u2019ve done for the European Space Agency to get the new Astro Pi units ready to become part of the European Astro Pi Challenge<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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After lift-off from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the new Astro Pi units are currently travelling on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Dragon 2 spacecraft, the module atop the rocket. You can watch the launch again here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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A SpaceX rocket is delivering the special Raspberry Pi computers to the ISS today. \u00a9 SpaceX<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Also travelling with our Astro Pi units are food and some Christmas presents for the astronauts on board the ISS, materials for a study of the delivery of cancer drugs; a bioprinter for experiments investigating wound healing; and materials for a study of how detergents work in microgravity.<\/p>\n

The Dragon 2 spacecraft will berth with the ISS tomorrow, with NASA astronauts Raja Chari and Tom Marshburn monitoring its arrival. ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer and another colleague will be there to unpack its cargo. You can watch the process of unpacking tomorrow<\/a>, Wed 22 December, at 8.30am GMT \/ 9.30am CET. In the new year, Matthias will be switching our Astro Pi units on and getting them ready to run the code written by young people participating in the European Astro Pi Challenge. The new Astro Pi units will replace Astro Pi units Ed and Izzy, which have been on the ISS for 6 years \u2014 ever since the very first Astro Pi Challenge with British ESA astronaut Tim Peake in 2015<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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The International Space Station, where the special Raspberry Pi computers will arrive tomorrow, \u00a9 ESA\u2013L. Parmitano, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

We\u2019re looking forward to seeing the amazing experiments this year\u2019s Astro Pi Mission Space Lab teams will perform<\/a> on the new hardware, and what they\u2019ll discover about life on Earth and in space. We also can\u2019t wait to see what the young people participating in Astro Pi Mission Zero will name the new Astro Pi units<\/a>!<\/p>\n

Building space-ready Astro Pi units<\/h2>\n

None of us on the team working on the Astro Pi Challenge here at the Foundation are aerospace engineers. While building the new Astro Pi units, we\u2019ve learned so much.<\/p>\n

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To get the Astro Pis ready to be loaded onto the rocket has been a project of more than three years. That\u2019s because, in addition to manufacturing the Astro Pi units, we also had to ensure they pass the necessary safety and certification process. The official name for this is the Safety Gate process. It\u2019s been set up by ESA and NASA to ensure that any items sent to the ISS are safe to operate on board the station.<\/p>\n

For the three separate safety panels the Astro Pi units needed to get through, we put the units through different tests and completed various safety reports. The tests included:<\/p>\n