B.USOC

Belgian User Support Operations Centre

[B.USOC @Busoc_official]

Amazing work, Sophie! 👩‍🚀 After a delayed start, it’s great to see PASTA-3 now successfully up and running in the Fluid Science Laboratory aboard Columbus 🚀

Proud to have supported this activity from the ground, with operations coordinated by B.USOC 🇧🇪

[Adenot Sophie @Soph_astro]

Day 049, orbit 0759 – Another experiment, and another timelapse! This time, I’m working with the Fluid Science Laboratory (FSL), one of the science facilities inside ESA’s Columbus module.

The experiment is called PASTA-3 and investigates the formation and evolution of emulsions over time when there is no gravity to interfere. Emulsions are mixtures of two or more liquids that do not usually mix, such as oil and water.
During this session, I installed 3 experiment containers 🧪 with new samples inside the FSL. Each PASTA sample has a different concentration of surfactant (an agent that helps liquids mix) and Xanthan Gum in addition to a water and oil mixture.

This experiment helps scientists better understand and model the fundamental physics of emulsions. That knowledge has numerous applications on Earth, including:
- improving food quality and shelf life (milk 🥛, dough, mayonnaise, candy…),
- enhancing the stability and effectiveness of medicines (including vaccines 💉) and cosmetics,
- optimising processes in industrial and advanced manufacturing sectors (oil 🛢️, chemicals …).

PASTA-3 is one of the 36 European experiments I get to work on during my mission! Go science!

(PASTA is short for PArticle STAbilised emulsions experiment.)

📷 @esa / @NASA

#εpsilon • @esaspaceflight • @Space_Station • @NASA_Johnson

[BIRA-IASB @BIRA_IASB]

Last week, a few secondary schools came to visit our Institute. Our scientists and engineers gave them tours of the outdoor exhibition and the labs, and presented all the areas of our research on Earth's climate 🌍, its atmosphere, and those of other planets 🪐 #STEMEducation

[BIRA-IASB @BIRA_IASB]

Big happening #planetariumbrussels tonight! We're celebrating #BIRA_IASB60years with #ArnaudVajda and our new director Ann Carine Vandaele @acvandaele

[Michel Kruglanski @MKruglanski]

Ready for a night at @Busoc_official celebrating 60 years of @BIRA_IASB

[BIRA-IASB @BIRA_IASB]

#job #vacancy Projectondersteuner (m/v/x) bij de Dienst B.USOC (Belgisch Centrum voor controle en ondersteuning van ruimtemissies en -experimenten) https://t.co/wN6nnhGztK

[Michel Kruglanski @MKruglanski]

PASTA inside FSL Soft Matter Dynamic experiment container in the spotlight
https://t.co/ORnAZcORSq

[Belspo @belspo]

[NL] 📨🔬OPEN BRIEF : voor een ambitieus federaal Wetenschapsbeleid
[FR] 📨🔬LETTRE OUVERTE : pour une politique scientifique fédérale ambitieuse

[NL] Wat hebben de weersvoorspellingen, de dinosauriërs van het Koninklijk Belgisch Instituut voor Natuurwetenschappen, het wifinetwerk van alle Belgische universiteiten (eduroam voor de kenners), de windmolens in de Noordzee en de restauratie van het Lam Gods van de gebroeders Van Eyck met elkaar gemeen?
https://t.co/ma2mIKTZlF
[FR] Qu’ont en commun les prévisions météorologiques du pays, les dinosaures de l’Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique et le réseau Wifi de toutes les universités belges (i.e. eduroam, pour les connaisseurs) ? Ou encore les éoliennes de la mer du Nord ou la restauration de l’Agneau mystique des frères Van Eyck ?
https://t.co/DYZ6ZMsPKf
@kbrbe @FineArtsBelgium @ArtHistoryBRU @BIRA_IASB @ORB_KSB @belnet_be @nat_sciences_be @meteobefr @meteobenl @kikirpabe @africamuseumbe

[BIRA-IASB @BIRA_IASB]

12 years ago, on Aug. 30, 2012, the launch of the Van Allen Probes marked a milestone for our institute in studying Earth's radiation belts! Since then, we've continued to explore with PROBA-V EPT and soon 3DEES! https://t.co/MoQ5OnGUWx #60yearsBIRA #radiationbelts #space

[ASIM 🦋 @asim.dk @ASIM_Payload]

First sprite ground capture over Denmark. @ASIM_Payload is a Danish led @esa mission on @Space_Station. We're happy to see beautiful ground images of these fascinating upper atmosphere discharges.

https://t.co/bTBcviPS6c

[BIRA-IASB @BIRA_IASB]

Did you know that Dirk Frimout, Belgium's first astronaut, began his career at #BIRA_IASB60years? From his early days as head of our Instrumentation Department to his historic 🚀 mission in 1992, Dirk has inspired generations. https://t.co/5r8I9EaB52

[B.USOC @Busoc_official]

🎉 The presentations from last week's workshop are now available! ✨

Check them out here: https://t.co/pEaBhy0iyy

#WorkshopRecap #SpaceResearch #ISS #BUSOC

[B.USOC @Busoc_official]

🛰️ Do you want to flight your experiment with @Raph_Astro ?

Click here to answer to the call for ISS activities from Belgium entities 👉👉👉https://t.co/pEaBhy0Qo6

#SpaceResearch #ISS #BUSOC

[Raphaël Liégeois @Raph_Astro]

✍️ 𝘈𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘶𝘵 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴 - 𝘈 𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 🤗 

🧑‍🔬 One of the main objectives of long-duration ISS missions is to carry out scientific experiments 🙂. In this context, @belspo has just launched a call to select the Belgian experiments 🇧🇪 that I will perform.

📽️ So this week I recorded a video to support this call. Yes, that's also part of my missions, and I'd be very proud to bring beautiful experiments with me 🤗!

🤯 There's no limit to what we could explore together: quantum physics 📏, fluid mechanics 🌊, materials science ♦️, earth observation 🌍, biology 🧬, neuroscience 🧠, etc. So don't be afraid to take the plunge, even if your project seems a little crazy, go for it, yes you 🫵🙃! After all, the ISS was also a bit of a crazy project to begin with 😉.

For more details on the experiment selection process  👉 https://t.co/HBgayyMj6l.

🗺️ Finally, although priority is given to research groups in Belgium, the call is open to international groups with Belgian partners 🇧🇪-❔ . I would be proud if this scientific adventure were as international as possible, and why not with experiments from institutions where I worked as a researcher 🙂. Poke @EPFL, @UNIGEnews, @NUSingapore & @Stanford 🙃.

See you soon 😉

#NASA #ESA #ISS4Science

[B.USOC @Busoc_official]

👩‍🔬 🧪🔬 This weekend, on Saturday June 29, 2024, 12 inspiring women in science will talk about their research at the Place the Monnaie/Muntplein.
Come and be amazed!
Interested? Look at the programme ➡ https://t.co/sWNoyl2ATl…
#WomenInSTEM #Scicomm
@SoapboxScience

[Raphaël Liégeois @Raph_Astro]

✍️ 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘥'𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘦 - 𝘜𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦 🤗  [NL👇]

🧑‍🔬 Un des objectifs principaux des missions de longue durée à bord de l’ISS est de réaliser des expériences scientifiques 🙂 et @belspo vient de lancer un appel afin de sélectionner les expériences belges 🇧🇪 que je réaliserai.

📽️ Cette semaine j’ai donc enregistré une vidéo pour soutenir cet appel. Eh oui, ça fait aussi partie de mes missions, puis je serais très fier d’emmener de belles expériences avec moi 🤗!

🤯 Il n’y a pas de limite à ce que nous pourrions explorer ensemble : physique quantique 📏, mécanique des fluides 🌊, science des matériaux ♦️, observation terrestre 🌍, biologie 🧬, neurosciences 🧠, etc. N’ayez donc pas peur de vous lancer, même si votre projet vous semble un peu fou, lancez-vous, oui vous  🫵🙃 ! Après tout, l’ISS était aussi un projet un peu fou au départ😉.

Pour plus de détail sur le processus de sélection des expériences, c’est par là 👉 https://t.co/HBgayyMj6l.

🗺️ Enfin, bien que la priorité soit accordée aux groupes de recherche en Belgique, des collaborations sont tout à fait envisageables et l’appel est également ouvert aux groupes internationaux ayant des partenaires belges 🇧🇪-❔ . Cela me ferait particulièrement plaisir que cette aventure scientifique soit la plus internationale possible, et pourquoi pas avec des expériences d’institutions où j’ai travaillé en tant que chercheur 🙂. Donc @EPFL, @UNIGEnews, @NUSingapore & @Stanford, n’hésitez pas !

À bientôt 😉

[NL] ✍️ 𝘋𝘢𝘨𝘣𝘰𝘦𝘬 𝘷𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘶𝘵 -  𝘌𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘫𝘬 𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘶𝘳 🤗

🧑‍🔬 Een van de belangrijkste doelstellingen van langdurige missies aan boord van het ISS is het uitvoeren van wetenschappelijke experimenten 🙂 en @belspo heeft net een oproep gelanceerd om de Belgische experimenten 🇧🇪 te selecteren die ik zal uitvoeren.

📽️ Dus heb ik deze week een video opgenomen om deze oproep te ondersteunen. Ja, het is ook een deel van mijn missie, en ik zou heel trots zijn om enkele mooie ervaringen mee te nemen 🤗!

Er zijn geen grenzen aan wat we samen zouden kunnen ontdekken: kwantumfysica 📏, vloeistofmechanica 🌊, materiaalkunde ♦️, aardobservatie 🌍, biologie 🧬, neurowetenschappen 🧠, enz. Dus wees niet bang om ervoor te gaan, zelfs als je project een beetje gek lijkt, ga ervoor, ja jij 🫵🙃! Het ISS was immers ook een ietwat gek project om mee te beginnen 😉.

Voor meer details over het selectieproces van de experimenten  👉 https://t.co/HBgayyMj6l.

���️ Tot slot, hoewel voorrang wordt gegeven aan onderzoeksgroepen in België, zijn samenwerkingen volledig mogelijk en staat de oproep ook open voor internationale groepen met Belgische partners 🇧🇪-❔. Het zou me bijzonder plezieren als dit wetenschappelijk avontuur zo internationaal mogelijk zou zijn, en waarom niet met experimenten van instellingen waar ik als onderzoeker heb gewerkt 🙂 . Poke @EPFL, @UNIGEnews, @NUSingapore & @Stanford 🙃.

Tot snel 😉

#NASA #ESA #ISS4Science

[B.USOC @Busoc_official]

🎶 Put a space suit on, come on, come on 🎶

[Raphaël Liégeois @Raph_Astro]

✍️ 𝘈𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘶𝘵 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴 - 𝘔𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘪𝘵 🤩 

👨‍🚀 After the gloves last week, this week I tried on my entire spacesuit. It's with this suit that I'll be training in the pool for spacewalks: our first training session is scheduled for early August ⌛️🙂!

📏 Based on the measurements on our arrival, the engineers at @NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory determined the sizes of the various parts of the suit that would fit me. And they were spot on, we hardly had to make any changes 👌!

😓 Putting on the suit is no easy feat and we're helped by several people to connect the various parts to make the suit water and air tight 🚫. The hardest part is passing the arms, head and torso through the "torso", a solid shell that covers the thorax and shoulders.

🫣 Once past the torso test, I popped my head out of the suit and saw myself in the mirror opposite, wearing a spacesuit 🙃. Moving moment when the dream comes once again knocking at the door 🙂.

🙏 A huge thank you to the NBL teams for accompanying me through this fitting, and a special thank you to @astro_luca who spent his morning with me to share about his spacewalker experience!

See you soon 😉

#ESA #NASA #Astronauts #NBL #SuitEngineer

[Raphaël Liégeois @Raph_Astro]

✍️ 𝘈𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘶𝘵 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴 - 𝘔𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘪𝘵 🤩 

👨‍🚀 After the gloves last week, this week I tried on my entire spacesuit. It's with this suit that I'll be training in the pool for spacewalks: our first training session is scheduled for early August ⌛️🙂!

📏 Based on the measurements on our arrival, the engineers at @NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory determined the sizes of the various parts of the suit that would fit me. And they were spot on, we hardly had to make any changes 👌!

😓 Putting on the suit is no easy feat and we're helped by several people to connect the various parts to make the suit water and air tight 🚫. The hardest part is passing the arms, head and torso through the "torso", a solid shell that covers the thorax and shoulders.

🫣 Once past the torso test, I popped my head out of the suit and saw myself in the mirror opposite, wearing a spacesuit 🙃. Moving moment when the dream comes once again knocking at the door 🙂.

🙏 A huge thank you to the NBL teams for accompanying me through this fitting, and a special thank you to @astro_luca who spent his morning with me to share about his spacewalker experience!

See you soon 😉

#ESA #NASA #Astronauts #NBL #SuitEngineer

[B.USOC @Busoc_official]

The presence of a Belgian astronaut in space is truly inspiring. Let us aim to fuel our children's dreams and curiosity about the cosmos! #Inspiration #SpaceExploration #FutureAstronauts

[Michel Kruglanski @MKruglanski]

"J’espère que le fait d’avoir un astronaute belge dans l’espace, ça va remettre des étoiles dans les yeux de nos enfants"
@lapremiere @Raph_Astro @ESA_BE #STEM #espace @Belgium
https://t.co/dSPM9AmuwQ

[Michel Kruglanski @MKruglanski]

"J’espère que le fait d’avoir un astronaute belge dans l’espace, ça va remettre des étoiles dans les yeux de nos enfants"
@lapremiere @Raph_Astro @ESA_BE #STEM #espace @Belgium
https://t.co/dSPM9AmuwQ

[B.USOC @Busoc_official]

@MKruglanski @lapremiere @Raph_Astro @ESA_BE @Belgium The presence of a Belgian astronaut in space is truly inspiring. Let us aim to fuel our children's dreams and curiosity about the cosmos! #Inspiration #SpaceExploration #FutureAstronauts

[LEO @LEOPHOTO_]

I am so lucky to have captured such a picture of Gigantic Jets Lightning over Himalayan Mountains.
And it has now been published at #APOD of June 18.

I took them on the early morning of June 10, 2024.