The Uncover Space podcast hosts Maaike Smelter (NL Space Campus) and Martijn Leinweber (SBIC Noordwijk) welcomed guest Philippe Schoonejans to the studio in March. In the episode, the conversation builds a buzz about space travel, with many intriguing insights into technical aspects of the International Space Station and about the astronauts’ experiences on board. There are also interesting discussions and considerations for journeying to Mars. Listen now on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
The aim of the Uncover Space podcast is to explore the people, programmes and organisations contributing to the Dutch space ecosystem. Guests are invited onto the show for every episode by the hosts from NL Space Campus and SBIC Noordwijk.
This month, the new episode has a focus on space exploration and the hosts welcomed guest Philippe Schoonejans to join the conversation. Listen to hear about Philippe’s experience of 30+ years working for the European Space Agency on various space programmes. The discussion touches upon the value of space exploration for our society and provides insights into life on the International Space Station (ISS).
Robotic arm designed and built in the Netherlands
When asked about groundbreaking exploration missions that Philippe has been involved with, there was a no doubt – the European Robotic Arm (ERA). This was one of the biggest ever Dutch space projects, with the development led by Airbus Netherlands; it launched to the ISS in July 2021. “After it launched, I remember operating and supporting the operations [of ERA at the ISS] from here in Noordwijk,” said Philippe.
“We could see real-time visuals from the astronauts’ helmets as they were busy operating the robot arm outside the ISS. We could see all the data, the currents, the temperatures of all the mechanisms. And for us to follow all of that from ESA/ESTEC – that was super exciting and I think that it’s a very nice addition to the ISS.” Discover more about ERA in the ESA information document (PDF).
We could see real-time visuals from the astronauts’ helmets as they were busy operating the robot arm outside the International Space Station
philippe schooneJANS
Exploration missions and printing with metal in space
Any other ISS related missions? “Something that is very dear to my heart that I worked on is now being used at the ISS: the metal 3D printer. It’s actually super difficult to print in 3D in weightless conditions because you cannot use powder printing; the powder would go all over the place. And if you have metal powder, it’s even explosive,” comments Philippe. “In space, they are now printing with wires. Layering the thin wires can give the accuracy required, which depends on what you want to print. But the future of this is very important because on a very long journey, let’s say to Mars or even further, you can’t take parts for everything that might possibly fail.”
“So, the solution is, in the future, to take the material with you and if some part fails, the ground station can transmit the specific digital design to the spaceship and then you print it in the spaceship and you replace the part. That’s the way longer exploration missions where you have no access to any logistics could be done,” explains Philippe. (Listen to a snippet of the discussion via Instagram.)
Read about – and watch – the first metal 3D printing in space (Jun 2024) >>
Space travel to the Moon and Mars
While looking forward to new technological developments and space missions exploring ever further, there was still opportunity in the discussion to take a moment and mark those historical journeys that really made an impact. “There’s nothing more inspiring than an exploration mission,” enthuses Philippe. And when asked about any favourite mission in particular? “The one single mission that has the biggest wow-feeling – maybe that’s still the lunar landing 50 years ago of the Apollo missions. That was such a major breakthrough, something which totally uncovered space and started space exploration big time.”
You can listen to the whole conversation via Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Tune-in to also hear from hosts Maaike Smelter and Martijn Leinweber sharing community updates and the latest fun space fact! Jump to the podcast platforms by clicking the visuals below:
Did you miss the first Uncover Space episode?!
Discover the recording that focused on the ESA Phi-Lab NL programme.
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