Many of us grow up with a fascination with space and the universe. The question of whether intelligent life exists is an ongoing concern of scientists and citizens alike.
But space research goes far beyond the hunt for extraterrestrial life – there are many different areas that students and researchers explore, from space weather and space law to astronaut health and satellite communications.
At Northumbria University, Newcastle – which is developing NESST, a new £50m North East Space Skills and Technology Center – academics are working on a range of projects that could transform our understanding of space.
For many people, their only experience with space weather is seeing the stunning Aurora Borealis phenomenon, better known as the Northern Lights. “The Northern Lights are part of space weather,” says Clare Watt, professor of space plasma physics. “When there is a heavy storm or disturbance in space, the aurora lights up.”
Space weather forecasts can help experts predict when and where the Northern Lights will be particularly bright, so tourists who have traveled to Iceland or Northern Norway, for example, don’t miss anything. Recently, of course, the Northern Lights were visible over Britain and many other parts of Europe, causing a lot of excitement.
What is less known is that space weather – such as solar flares or storms – can have a huge impact on our technological infrastructure and even our health and well-being. It can cause damage to satellites or increase radiation harmful to flight crews and astronauts. One of Northumbria’s leading researchers in this field, Watt has worked closely with organizations such as the Met Office to investigate the impact of space weather on Earth.
“Before I studied the space, I thought there was nothing there,” says Watt. “But the little material that exists is so energetic that it poses a danger to satellites and everything related to electronics. So space weather involves trying to analyze conditions in space in order to predict them and notify satellite operators.”
Now that we rely on satellites for banking, navigation, entertainment and more, the prospect of a storm in space that will take out our communications systems is a real cause for concern. By conducting research to make better space weather forecasts, the team can help satellite operators make more accurate predictions about where and when to move satellites, helping to prevent damage to these satellites and to other communications systems.
As well as improving weather forecasts in space, Northumbrian researchers are also looking at new ways for satellites to transmit data. Funding from the UK Space Agency is supporting the development of a new system that will allow satellites to communicate with each other using lasers instead of radio frequencies. This allows them to transmit data much faster and much more securely. Researchers from Northumbria are working to launch Britain’s first university-led multi-satellite space mission to test their system next year, and hope to make it commercially available soon afterwards.
Another area that experts at Northumbria University are pursuing is research into technologies that can improve the health of astronauts. “We are directly involved in supporting astronauts,” said Nick Caplan, professor of aerospace medicine and rehabilitation at Northumbria University. “The most important thing that happens to them in space is that, in the absence of gravity, they don’t have to use the muscles in their legs like they do on Earth to stand and move,” he says. “This means they lose muscle and bone minerals, which can have consequences long after they return to Earth. So the question we are interested in is: how do astronauts train in space to prevent these changes?”
The team has developed exercise equipment, including a variable gravity suspension system. And, after winning the 2023 Humans in Space Challenge, he is now researching blood flow restriction training for possible use by astronauts during spaceflight. Using a specialist technique, the team is working on ways to restrict blood flow to the exercising muscles to improve the effectiveness of the exercises, with the aim of maintaining the strength of astronauts in space.
Importantly, the team’s research can also be used to improve the lives of people here on Earth, Caplan says. “For example, the postural muscles tend to become dysfunctional in astronauts, in a similar way to what we see in people with lower back pain,” he says. “So if we can find something that works for astronauts, it could also work for people with lower back pain on Earth.”
Another area of research at the university is space law, which regulates what is allowed into space. “You can’t just launch something,” says Caroline Harper, head of space science at the UK Space Agency. “There are regulations that are flexible enough to support emerging technologies and new markets, while keeping safety top of mind. We must preserve space for future generations and Britain is a leading voice in this. We want to encourage positive behavior, such as satellites that automatically disappear from orbit once their mission is over.”
The university is involved in assessing whether additional regulations are necessary. “There are laws that the space industry must follow, but we have to ask whether those laws are still relevant now that the ways we use space are changing so dramatically,” says Watt. “We have a team here at Northumbria Law School looking at the way space is governed to determine whether space regulation needs vital updates.”
Northumbria University is working with the UK Space Agency and Lockheed Martin UK Space on its new NESST centre, which will bring together industry and academia to collaborate on technological developments and space research. It is expected to support the creation of more than 350 jobs and aims to help train the next generation of space scientists.
All this research into space has broad relevance. “We’re trying to understand more about the universe, starting with our own solar system and our nearest neighbor, the moon, and then all the other planets in our solar system,” Harper says. “We’re always innovating… What you end up with is technology that you can use for countless applications on Earth.”
Find out more about how Northumbria University is driving change and inspiring potential