The Project PoSSUM News: Winter 2016 by Jason Reimuller

The Project PoSSUM News: Winter 2016 PoSSUM, an acronym for Polar Suborbital Science in the Upper Mesosphere, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit research and education organization that conducts research in our upper atmosphere and communicates the role of our upperatmosphere through its educational outreach programs. Topics      

PoSSUM Members secure $1.4M contract to study noctilucent clouds over Antarctica PoSSUM Graduates complete first microgravity evaluation of commercial spacesuits PoSSUM prepares for second phase microgravity spacesuit evaluations in July PoSSUM Scientist-Astronaut Class 1601 Candidates to be selected in February PoSSUM Academy to kick off in Minneapolis, MN this August PoSSUM Graduates to attend inaugural Spacecraft Egress and Rescue Operations course

PoSSUM to study Noctilucent Clouds over Antarctica in 2017 PoSSUM Chief Scientist Dr. Dave Fritts and Executive Director Dr. Jason Reimuller were selected as part of a $1.4M NASA-funded experiment, the Polar Mesospheric Cloud Turbulence (PMC-Turbo) experiment to study atmospheric dynamics that can be viewed in exquisite detail by imaging PMCs at very high resolution. PMCs are the high-altitude clouds believed to be sensitive to global climate trends that form only in the polar summertime near 82 km altitude. PoSSUM will work in partnership with GATS, Columbia University, and Integrated Spaceflight Services on the PMC-Turbo project. Dr. Dave Fritts will serve as Principal Investigator and will manage all aspects of the experiment. Dr. Jason Reimuller will be responsible for camera system design and will participate with colleagues at GATS and Columbia University in the system testing, integration, field operations, and data analysis efforts. The images obtained during the campaign will be used to analyze how waves generated at lower altitudes dissipate via instability and turbulence processes. These processes account for the deposition of significant energy and momentum transported by the waves from lower altitudes. They also play key roles in weather and climate throughout the atmosphere, but are poorly understood at present. Imaging of PMCs provides a unique window on these processes that is not available at any other altitude. Thus, this largely inaccessible region has the potential to educate us about important processes occurring throughout the atmosphere.

Above: NASA Research balloon identical to the one that will fly PoSSUM instrumentation

In 2016 and 2017, the team will be constructing the gondola and the camera, power, communications, control systems, and associated interfacing software. The novel camera system to be used in the campaign will employ an array of seven 50MP scientific camera systems to be configured for sustained operations in the Antarctic stratosphere. The camera enclosures will be constructed by Integrated Spaceflight Services in Boulder, CO and be shipped to Columbia University, where they will be integrated on the gondola before being shipped to NASA’s Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility in Palestine, TX for testing and integration. The team will then deploy to McMurdo Station, Antarctica in December 2017 to support launch and recovery operations Following completion of the PMC-Turbo project, PoSSUM and the PMC-Turbo team plan to extend the balloon imagery obtained in Antarctica with high-resolution tomographic imagery and coordinated in-situ measurements of the upper atmosphere through use of next-generation commercial space vehicles as they become operational. For this purpose, the cameras to be flown in Antarctica will be configured as the Wide-Field Imager (WFI) payload, one of a suite of five payloads designed to produce tomographic imagery through a series of suborbital flights. Operators of these instruments were trained at the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, FL in 2015, where candidates learned to effectively operate PoSSUM instrumentation to capture high-resolution tomographic imagery of noctilucent cloud structures through simulated suborbital flight. The next class will be held April 9-13, 2016.

PoSSUM Graduates complete first microgravity test of commercial spacesuits In October, PoSSUM Scientist-Astronaut and Academy graduates completed the first microgravity evaluation of a commercial spacesuit. The 3G IVA spacesuit, manufactured by Final Frontier Design (‘FFD’) of Brooklyn, N.Y., was tested through a series of four microgravity flights on a Falcon 20 research aircraft specially modified for microgravity operations, in partnership with Integrated Spaceflight Services (ISS). “This was the first step in an extensive test plan that will evaluate the FFD IVA spacesuit in conditions that best approximate the environments in which they were designed to operate.” said Dr. Jason Reimuller, President of ISS, “This was a complicated test protocol; we want to make sure that our methodology is well established before we advance to other tests.” According to ISS, the Falcon 20 aircraft was chosen for its exceptional quality of microgravity that best approximates the orbital environment, as well as a cabin interior that best replicates several space vehicles being produced. On each of the four flights, a series of parabolic maneuvers were conducted in which the test subjects would perform range of motion tests, fine motor skills tests, seat egress and ingress tests, and assisted seat ingress tests. Onboard suit pressurization and monitoring systems were also evaluated in flight. The 14 participating Project PoSSUM graduates had all been previously trained in spacesuit and microgravity operations and rehearsed in teams of five prior to flight. Spacesuit test subjects included Dr. Shawna Pandya of Edmonton, Alta; Callum Wallach of Auckland, New Zealand, Gavin James of Daytona Beach, Fla., Deniz Burnham of Fairfield, Calif.; Dr. Ross Lockwood of Edmonton, Alta., Dr. Ulyana Horodyskyj of Boulder, Colo.; Michael Mastin of Ketchikan, Alaska; and Jim Kuhl of Syracuse, N.Y. The tests were directed by Kari Love of Brooklyn, N.Y. and Dr. Jason Reimuller of Boulder, Colo. "FFD is consistently impressed by the credentials and commitment of Project PoSSUM graduates. Data collected on suit performance helps build our case on the road to human rating and spaceflight." said Kari Love, co-owner of FFD.

Above: PoSSUM Graduate Ross Lockwood prepares for seat ingress testing in microgravity.

Project PoSSUM Members to Continue Zero-G Evaluations of Final Frontier Spacesuits in July 2016 Twelve PoSSUM members will conduct the second phase of commercial spacesuit testing in zero-g environments this April 2016. The experiment will be performed through a series parabolic (zero-G) flights provided by Integrated Spaceflight Services (ISS) to further evaluate the Final Frontier Design (FFD) 3G IVA spacesuit in zero-G conditions and extend upon phase-one tests that were successfully completed in October 2015. The first phase of tests evaluated the test subject’s range of motion tests, fine motor skills tests, seat egress and ingress tests, and assisted seat ingress tests through a series of four flights The second phase of tests will test a prototype seat, the suit/seat interface, and a biometric monitoring system through a series of three flights. This test will also mature an in-flight suit pressurization system. “This second phase of testing will serve as a dry-run for a NASA-selected flight opportunity in which the suits will be evaluated fully pressurized.” said Dr. Jason Reimuller, Executive Director of Project PoSSUM. Last month, the FFD proposal, “Testing of a Novel IVA Space Suit” was selected by NASA’s Flight Opportunities Program and FFD’s flight operations partner ISS has arranged a tentative flight date in Summer 2016 on a Falcon 20 research aircraft specially modified for microgravity operations. The Falcon 20 aircraft was chosen for its exceptional quality of microgravity that best approximates the space environment, as well as a cabin interior that best replicates several space vehicles being produced. “The purpose of these tests is to increase our technology readiness level (TRL) through human testing in a high fidelity, relevant environment. The results will be used to validate pressurized suit performance under live, unpredictable conditions and further our milestone goal of flight safety approval from the FAA AST.” says Ted Southern, President of FFD.

Project PoSSUM Graduates 22 Scientist-Astronaut Candidates to study Noctilucent Clouds Project PoSSUM graduated its two classes of Scientist-Astronaut Candidates last October! The PoSSUM ScientistAstronaut program, designed by former NASA astronaut instructors and hosted by the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla., provide its candidates with the skills required to effectively conduct research on commercial space vehicles as part of an international research campaign dedicated to the study of global climate. The PoSSUM candidates learned about upper-atmospheric and noctilucent cloud science while participating in realistic mission simulations developed in partnership with Embry-Riddle. These simulations trained its candidates to effectively use PoSSUM imager systems and instrumentation to study noctilucent clouds in suborbital flight. Candidates also received comprehensive spacesuit training, high-altitude and hypoxia awareness training, and aerospace physiology training with world-champion aerobatic pilot Patty Wagstaff. The eleven candidates that graduated from Class 1502 include Richard Blakeman of Lakewood, Colo., Dr., Aaron Persad of Toronto, Ontario, Dr. Pedro Llanos of Daytona Beach, Fla., Dr. Justin Karl of Orlando, Fla., Brian Thomas of Helena, Ala., Kyle Foster of Centerville, Va., Christopher Macomber of Orlando, Fla., Dr. Michael Gallagher of Edmonton, Alberta, Dr. Shawna Pandya of Edmonton, Alberta, and Troy Michael Cole of Everett, Wash. The eleven candidates that graduated from Class 1503 include Dr. Ross Lockwood of Edmonton, Alberta; Todd Kohorst of Cannon Falls, Minn., James Bevington of McDonald, Tenn., Callum Wallach of Auckland, New Zealand, Dr. Akram Abdellatif of Munich, Germany, Casey Stedman of Orlando, Fla., Dr. Ulyana Horodyskyj of Boulder, Colo., Dr. Armin Kleinboehl of Long Beach, Calif., Michael Mastin of Ketchikan, Alsk., Dr. Blake Keller of Hilton, NY, and Capt. Alex McHale of Enterprise, Ala. “PoSSUM has exposed me to a number of specialty experiences that I wouldn’t have otherwise encountered in my R&D efforts or civilian pilot training.” said PoSSUM Class 1502 Graduate Dr. Justin Karl, “Spaceflight simulations, spacesuit operations, anti-G garments, aerobatic flight, and the effects of high altitude were neatly packaged so that I could gain first-order competencies in a short period of time. In addition to better defining my capabilities as an engineer and pilot, I have been able to add these valuable skills to a growing foundation that I hope to utilize on a future spaceflight.” The next PoSSUM scientist-astronaut class will occur at Embry-Riddle from April 9-13, 2016.

Above: 2015 PoSSUM Graduates originate from all six continents.

Brief Updates PoSSUM Class 1601 set for 9-13 April 2016 There are three days left to apply to PoSSUM Scientist Astronaut Class 1601. This course will be held from 9-13 April, 2016 at the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, FL. This class will be limited to 12 participants. Interested persons should apply by 31 January through the PoSSUM website.

PoSSUM Academy Contract Established in Minneapolis Project PoSSUM will be in Minneapolis this August 1-12, 2016 for the inaugural PoSSUM Academy course, where 24 lucky students will be able to learn about aeronomy through simulated PoSSUM missions. The program continues to receive grants from local industry partners in the Minnesota metropolitan region and programs in Colorado and Florida are being scheduled for later in 2016.

Twelve PoSSUM Graduates to study Spacecraft Egress and Rescue Operations Hosted by Integrated Spaceflight Services, twelve Project PoSSUM graduates have been selected to attend the inaugural ‘Spacecraft Egress and Rescue Operations’ course this April in Connecticut. This program is the first professional education course offered by Integrated Spaceflight Services and it is being exclusively provided to PoSSUM Scientist-Astronaut and Academy graduates. Two additional courses are being developed and will be offered in 2017.

Flight Test Team One (L to R): Shawna Pandya, Callum Wallach, Jonna Ocampo, Kari Love, and Heidi Hammerstein show they have the Right Stuff.

Project PoSSUM is a 501(c)(3) non-profit research and education program. For more information, contact us at info@projectpossum.org.