India’s first microbiological nanosat, developed by college students, to find ways to keep astronauts healthy | India News

NEW DELHI: India’s first microbiological nanosatellite RVSAT-1, which was launched on board Isro’s PSLV C-60 final December as a part of the SPADEX/POEM-4 mission, has been designed and developed by a group of scholars of Bengaluru-based RV College of Engineering so as to discover the expansion of the intestine bacterium in house.
For the scholars’ group Team Antariksh, RVSAT-1 is greater than a scholar undertaking: “It is a leap into the future of space exploration”. Success at every stage of assessments of the nanosatellite bolstered the group’s confidence and introduced the group nearer to their dream of sending their work into house. And it was lastly realised when RVSAT-1 was launched into house on Dec 30 final 12 months from Sriharikota.
Gut micro organism performs an necessary position in our well being by serving to management digestion and benefiting our immune system and lots of different points of well being. To know the way the intestine micro organism capabilities in house will assist Isro find ways to keep Indian astronauts healthy throughout house missions.
H Nandish, a third-year aerospace scholar of the faculty who’s engaged in RVSAT-1 undertaking, advised TOI, “Our satellite mission was only for three days. We collected a lot of data soon after the launch. The study was to measure the growth of gut bacterium, Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, in space and how it behaved in zero gravity. Study of data will not only help in space medicine but will also provide clues for applications on Earth, such as advanced waste recycling systems and combating antibiotic resistance. Data will also help Isro find solutions to keep astronauts healthy for a long space journey.”
“We will publish a research paper after finding results from our nanosatellite data and put the report in public domain for its use by Isro, academia and others,” Nandish stated, including “data will basically help in astronaut health, waste management and antibiotic development.”
On development of intestine micro organism, Aditi Arun, undertaking supervisor, who can also be engaged within the satellite tv for pc undertaking, stated, “The bacterial growth curve is plotted utilising optical density measurement. This gives a quantitative measure of the variation of growth patterns in space.”
The journey of RVSAT-1 has been difficult. Miniaturising advanced lab tools like incubators and spectrophotometers right into a 2-U nanosatellite was a frightening problem for Team Antariksh. Its revolutionary design included a state-of-the-art microfluidic set-up and a exact optical system.
The payload’s distinctive experiment, combining bacterial development evaluation with prebiotic supplementation, guarantees groundbreaking insights into sustaining astronaut intestine well being. RVSAT-1’s growth confronted moments of uncertainty. The rigorous testing section demanded the best requirements of precision and efficiency. Each test-thermal vacuum (T-VAC), vibration, 1,500g shock check, and electromagnetic interference and compatibility — simulated the tough situations of house, pushing the payload to its limits.
Beyond the technical achievements, RVSAT-1 symbolises the ability of collaboration and the boundless potentialities of scholar innovation.