Sprite observed near French Caledonia, 15 April 2022 08:32:54.48 UT. | Credit: Eytan Stibbe/Rakia Mission/ILAN-ES Science Team
Among the more than 20 experiments that will be conducted on Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2), Axiom Space has partnered with the Rakia Mission, Cosmic Shielding Corporation, and King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, in collaboration with the Saudi Space Commission and Nanoracks, to advance physical science research aboard the International Space Station (ISS). These experiments will help us better understand atmospheric activity, protection against space radiation, and how weather modification works in low-gravity conditions.
Imaging of Lightning and Nocturnal Emissions from Space
In collaboration with the Rakia Mission
During Ax-2, a night-time experiment will image thunderstorms, lightning, and transient luminous events (TLEs) that occur at high altitudes above thunderstorms, which are a marker of severe weather and extremely powerful lightning,
All kinds of electrical events take place in Earth’s upper atmosphere. This experiment engages students in different places on Earth to take pictures of lightning and natural phenomena, while the same observations are occurring on the ISS.
Sprites, or red sprites, are discharges that take place in the mesosphere (~50-100km above sea level) and occur above thunderstorm clouds all over the planet. They can look like huge carrots, columns, and jellyfish and are sometimes preceded by sprite-haloes, brief oval-shaped emissions of red light.
ELVES (“Emission of Light and Very Low Frequency perturbations due to Electromagnetic Pulse Sources” ) are reddish, ultra-fast bursts of electricity and are ring-shaped that can spread to more than 185 miles (300 kilometers) wide.
Copyright: DTU Space, TGF: NASA
Collectively sprites, haloes, and ELVES are known as TLEs. They are observed above the center of lightning activity on Earth, and usually accompany very powerful lightning flashes.
Observations of the Earth from space offer unique vantage points to monitor large-scale weather events. The benefit of observing TLEs from space is that this unique view can overcome many limitations of observing these high-altitude events from the ground because it can be often very difficult to have a clear line-of site. Images of weather phenomena from space continue to inform scientists about the Earth’s atmosphere and enable us to better understand changes in climate.
The ILAN-ES (Imaging of Lightning and Nocturnal Emissions from Space) experiment was first conducted in April 2022 as part of the Ax-1 mission, in the framework of Rakia Mission, an Israeli set of experiments selected for flight by the Ramon Foundation. The ILAN-ES objective was to record lightning and TLEs from the ISS, based on preliminary thunderstorm forecasts uploaded to the crew 24-36 hours in advance. During the 12-day mission, a total of 45 TLEs were observed, including red sprites and ELVES.
As part of the science objectives of the mission, the ILAN-ES project was augmented by a wide network of ground-based observations to attempt simultaneous space-ground TLE and lightning observations. TLE detection networks run by citizen scientists conduct optical observations from ground-based cameras operating in central Europe (centered in Hungary and Croatia), the Caribbean (Puerto Rico), and South America. The global coverage offered by the various amateur networks enhances the chance for space-ground detection.
During the Ax-2 mission, schools in Israel, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, and Hong Kong will be equipped with digital low-light cameras and will attempt to observe thunderstorms at the same time that the ISS observes them from above, thus joining NASA's new "Spritacular" citizen science project (https://spritacular.org/).
A sideways look at an ELVE source produced a couple of minutes later by the same storm. | Eytan Stibbe/Rakia Mission/ILAN-ES Science Team
Multifunctional Shielding Polymer Demo
In collaboration with Cosmic Shielding Corporation
To help us live safely and utilize advanced robotics, artificial intelligence and computing technologies in space, protective shielding must be used to prevent humans and electronics from being harmed from ionizing radiation.
Cosmic Shielding Corporation (CSC) has developed the multifunctional nanocomposite called “Plasteel,” which can protect both electronics and humans from the primary and secondary components of cosmic radiation, solar energetic particles and trapped protons and electrons. CSC's Plasteel has already been tested at particle accelerator facilities on Earth, and the Ax-2 mission will represent the first major on-orbit demonstration of the technology. During the mission, Plasteel will be tested in the internal radiation environment of the ISS to validate the shielding ability of the material and to compare with results seen during ground-based testing. Passive and active radiation detector systems will measure the radiation field behind the shield, which along with the data gained from testing on Earth will accelerate the design of highly effective protection systems for electronics and future crewed space missions.
The Ax-2 mission will also act as a demonstration of a new market-ready shielding product, the Aegis Conformal Shielding System. The Aegis system will provide standard commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) electronic components with resilience and save up to 40 times the mass required for currently available shielding options.
CSC AEGIS Conformal Shielding
Cloud Seeding in Microgravity
In collaboration with King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM), Saudi Space Commission, and Nanoracks
What is cloud seeding?
Cloud seeding, or artificial rainmaking, is the process of artificially generating rain by implanting clouds with particles such as silver iodide (AgI) crystals. Cloud seeding has been adopted by many countries to increase precipitation in areas suffering from droughts.
In this experiment, cloud seeding will be examined for the first time in space under microgravity conditions. Moist air and AgI crystals will be mixed in a reaction chamber to examine the possibility of nucleation, where water vapor condenses on AgI crystals to form water droplets.
The outcome of this experiment will help develop weather control technology to generate artificial rain in future human settlements on the Moon and Mars.