28.02.2022Successful research campaigns, increased international visibility and outreach

NASA and ESA campaigns, ESA parabolic flights and ISS mission

Despite the pandemic-related restrictions, the past year was marked by important research campaigns: Andi Hüni and team, in collaboration with NASA JPL and ESA, conducted a Europe-wide multi-week test and calibration campaign with AVIRIS-NG operated from the Dübendorf airfield.

Thanks to the astrophysical pilot experiment on planet formation performed during the 4th Swiss Parabolic Flight in 2020 and the initiative of the UZH Space Hub and the cooperation with the Swiss Space Office, Holly Capelo and Lucio Mayer were able to participate with their experiment in the 75th ESA Parabolic Flight. During the 76th ESA parabolic flight, Jaap Swanenburg and team conducted in-depth research on the development of back pain in astronauts.

On the way towards autonomous high-speed drones, Davide Scaramuzza and team reached several milestones: They regularly test their new algorithms in their test arena in Hangar 9 of the Air Force Center in Dübendorf.

In the public private partnership project of UZH and Airbus Defence and Space, Oliver Ullrich and Cora Thiel tested the production of human tissue from adult stem cells on the International Space Station (ISS) during the Space X CRS-23 mission. 

Raising awareness for space among young scientists and the public

In the field of education, the UZH Space Hub, together with the Graduate Campus, conducted 12 Space Café events with a total of 622 participants. On the EPFL MOOC New Space Academy platform, Space Hub members offered three courses. The UZH Space Hub team also engaged in the Mobility Innovathon of the Digital Society Initiative DSI mobility and the Copernicus Hackathon.

ESA led an astronaut selection in 2021 for the first time in over forty years. Via the "I want you" poster campaign on Campus Irchel, the UZH Space Hub encouraged UZH affiliates to participate in the astronaut selection and offered candidates feedback on their ESA applications. 22 UZH affiliates took advantage of this offer. In addition, the UZH Space Hub gave two astronaut applicants from UZH the opportunity to experience real weightlessness aboard the A310 ZERO-G from Dübendorf.

The UZH Space Hub was involved in Scientifica with several booths and six presentations and also held a pre-Scientifica event at Hangar 9 in Dübendorf for politicians, local school classes and the general public.  Various videos about members' research activities were realized and shared on social media. Professional exhibition material was created and produced to visually reinforce the outreach activities.

New members and broadened network

In 2021, the UZH Space Hub was able to welcome many new members from different faculties and with different backgrounds. Furthermore, the Space Hub entered in partnership with Technopark Liechtenstein in order to connect the innovation ecosystems between Liechtenstein and UZH Space Hub and to encourage the founding of new start-up companies.

Corona drive-in test center in Dübendorf

Cora Thiel and Oliver Ullrich, together with UZH students, managed and operated the antigen-test lab of the Corona Drive-in Test Center of Balgrist University Hospital at the Air Force Center in Dübendorf in 2021.

Funding

In 2021, 27% of UZH Space Hub expenditures were funded by the UZH Innovation Hub. The remaining 73% of the UZH Space Hub expenditures were funded by members of the UZH Space Hub: 5% by the Science Faculty, 5% by the professorship Michael Schaepman and 63% by the professorship Oliver Ullrich.

Dr. Calista Fischer