Two astronauts have completed a spacewalk to build a broadband hub in Britain that will send scientific research back to Earth.
The technology marks the first major industry contribution made by the International Space Station (ISS).
Called ColKa, short for Columbus Ka-band Terminal, the system allows astronauts to communicate with Earth at broadband speeds at home.
It will transform the ability of scientists in the UK and Europe to access the results of place-based experiments, from studies of the effects of radiation on seeds to biomining research.
The findings will help researchers understand things like how our bodies and muscles age, and improve their understanding of diseases such as cancer and Parkinson’s disease.
This huge leap forward for research conducted in the Columbus model will allow astronauts and researchers to benefit from a unique connection back to Earth at home broadband speeds.
Currently, results are returned to Earth in a hard format, which can take months to get, with data sometimes lost in motion.
The new terminal will allow scientists to deliver results just a day or two after the data is recorded.
This allows scientists to process information much faster and modify experiments if they see any problems with the data, such as blurred image.
On Wednesday Nasa’s Victor Glover and Michael Hopkins flew outside the space station to deliver the UK spacecraft, funded by the UK Space Agency, to the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Columbus model ) on the ISS.
“That’s a beautiful sight,” said Mr. Hopkins as the ISS flew 260 miles above Kazakhstan.
Science minister Amanda Solloway said: “This mission to launch the UK’s state-of-the-art technology into space demonstrates how government support is helping our most innovative companies push forward. the limits of what we can achieve in space as well as return home to Earth.
“Strengthening the speed at which data can be extracted from space will bring huge benefits to scientists and researchers across Europe, helping them to advance research faster, and opening up a number of commercial opportunities for UK companies as we build better back. ”
Connected to the ISS with a retractable steel cable, the astronauts had a challenging situation while working to enter the terminal building.
They went without food for hours while working in a space vacuum, where the temperature can be as hot as 120C in sunlight, down to minus 160C when the sun is out. out of sight.