LOS ANGELES PHOTO DIARY

Visiting NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and SpaceX were the highlights of my trip. Remember that room where the Curiosity rover landing was filmed last year and you saw Bobak Ferdowsi a.k.a Mohawk guy?  We were lucky enough to sit in those very seats! (I even caught a glimpse of Mr. Mohawk but I'm unsure he wanted more attention drawn to that fabulous hair). SpaceX was inspiring. A dream machine, entrepreneur and founder Elon Musk defintiely is the real life Tony Stark. He simply employs people that can build. No need to be a rocket scientist, I saw men and women from all backgrounds building the Dragon capsule that takes both cargo and humans into space and stages of the Falcon 9 rocket. 

LA is beautiful both in the day and night. The bubblegum pink sunsets and paradise-like Venice beach have now given me an obsession with palm trees...if only the UK was warm enough. Guess I'll have to make do with the good old Oak tree. I was a standard tourist and visited Hollywood Boulevard. Shamelessly celebrity spotting in the Hollywood Trader Joes, I saw zero famous faces but did spot the Moon Landing plaque outside commemorating Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin (Buzz Aldrin to you and me)  & Michael Collins for orbiting, landing and walking on the Moon for the first time in human history 44 years ago today.

After watching another stunning LA sunset at Griffith Observatory  I took the obligatory Hollywood sign photograph before heading back on the 7 hours drive up to San Francisco. It's very different here in NorCal, I personally prefer the cooler weather of SF but I'd definitely recommend visiting SoCal and all the palm trees it has to offer!

-Nikita

If I had a superpower for a day... (why I think the Mantis Shrimp is a little bit cool)

To have a superpower is to possess an ability that is superhuman. Something that is not biologically, physically, chemically and psychologically possible for us do in our natural Homo sapien state. 

Therefore, if I were to have a superpower for a day, it would be the ability to view the world through the eyes of another living organism, in particular, the mantis shrimp. Our human eyes have millions of light sensitive photoreceptive cells called rods that enable us to see light & motion, and cones which provide us with color vision. Dogs have two types of color-receptive cones, green and blue which allow them to see these colors plus some yellow. We have green, blue and red cone types which enable us to see not only red but all the colors that derive from red such as orange and purple when mixed with yellow and blue. However, the mantis shrimp has a phenomenal sixteen types of color-receptive cone cells. It is mind-blowing to imagine what an ordinary rainbow that we see with three colors looks like to a mantis shrimp. I would like to see the world through the sixteen cone photoreceptor celled eyes of the mantis shrimp. 

This superpower will provide me with a window into the plethora of undiscovered perception that exists in everyday life. I would like to find out what other colors exist and whether they would exist at all, being something invisible to human eye. Not only this, but I think it's important as Earthlings to attempt to fully understand the species we share the planet with before exploring other worlds. After this day, I would then attempt to describe and possibly code what I saw so that others may experience the mysterious and extraordinary world of the mantis shrimp. I find this to be one of the most intriguing areas because the translation of the enriched vision of the mantis shrimp will be difficult in the three-coned eyes through which we see the world.

I chose this superpower since I believe other species and other adaptations are in fact the superpowers that humans crave. We are not the fastest, the most efficient, the largest or the most agile however, we are the best tool-makers on the planet. As opposed to being limited by the biology that we are born with, we invented and built our way to become the leading species. However, I think it is important to learn from the greatest inventor of them all, natural selection. Biomimcry in technological advancement will enable humans to truly become superhuman.

(I submitted this into a creative writing competition for NASA interns to win a trip to Google HQ. I didn't win but I thought I'd share it here for you guys to see how geeky I get about the wonders of Biology)

To see where I got my inspiration from check out 'The Oatmeal':

- Nikita

Making Space Accessible: NanoSatisfi

They say that when you love your job, you never work a day in your life. That's exactly what the guys at revolutionary space company, NanoSatisfi strongly believe in. Nestled in the heart of San Francisco, three International Space University graduates (like myself) work towards making space more affordable and accessible for everybody. Together, Peter Platzer, Jeroen Cappaert and Joel Spark juggled ISU exams, lectures, team projects and summer internships with creating a business plan and running a Kickstarter campaign. This all took place in 2012 and now, a year later the company has achieved great success with their main products, miniature cubic satellite ArduSat and ArduSat Academy. I visited NanoSatisfi HQ to learn more from the guys about their journey and what they think is the key to unlocking both happiness and success.

Based out of a collective workspace provided by tech incubator Lemnos Labs, CEO Peter Platzer treated my friends and I with a breakfast array of coffee, pastries and orange juice, before taking a seat on the office floor (there were 12 of us!) and answering our questions with Jeroen and Joel. We were keen to find out how exactly they succeeded at both university and starting a company and they provided us with a great deal of advice towards achieving our dreams, no matter what. Using the example of the 4 minute mile, Peter described how something can only be achieved when you believe it can be. Simply because it is thought to be impossible, does not make it so. The fact that this is merely a state of mind signifies a gap in the market and consequently an opportunity for you to change this thought process.

NanoSatisfi CEO, Peter Platzer holding a prototype of the ArduSat payload package (Source: Space Fellowship)

 

NanoSatisfi co-founders, Jeroen Cappaert and Joel Spark

Beginning his career as a high-energy physicist at CERN, Peter completed an MBA at Harvard before heading to Wall Street. However space exploration called. I asked Peter what NanoSatisfi meant to him personally & professionally: 

" NanoSatisfi is the culmination of my personal mission statement to have an positive impact on the world, and professionally it is a happy return to my early career aspirations as a physicist and to my passion for space exploration.  These were put on hold for 15 years while I worked in business and waited for a time when the commercialization of space would make it possible to do something impactful without relying on the whims of government budgets.  NanoSatisfi has allowed me to do that, and I am lucky that both personally and professionally I have found a way to be doing something that I love and exactly what I am meant to be doing at this point in my career." - Peter Platzer, CEO NanoSatisfi

Together with aerospace engineer Joel and mechanical engineer Jeroen, the team are driven to  providing regular people with affordable, convenient and on-demand access to space. Their two main products include ArduSat, which allows the public to buy time to run their own experiments, games or applications on board the satellite for as low as $250 a week. Their ArduSat Academy offers training on program design and building, bringing the magic of space science closer to people like you and me. 

ArduSat illustration (Source: Science Business)

Meeting people that exactly a year ago were in my position as an ISU Masters student on their summer internship gave me a strong sense of motivation to achieve similar success. I left NanoSatisfi feeling as though I can and will accomplish anything that I put my mind to. And it really is as simple as that. 

Follow @NanoSatisfi for fun space facts, updates and all-round entertaining140 retweet-worthy characters

- Nikita

Silicon Valley: The Land of Innovation

The opportunity found within the Silicon Valley is evident from just walking down the street. A mere 4 hours ago I returned from work and had exciting evening plans such as eating ice cream for dinner. Little did I know that I actually had an evening ahead of me filled with innovation, first-hand entrepreneurial advice and the infamous Google Glass.

This all took place at Singularity University (SU), sister university of my very own International Space University (ISU). After bumping into Peter Diamandis, co-founder of ISU, founder of the X PRIZE Foundation and now SU, my friends and I were invited to a 'fireside interview' with Marc Andreessen. American entrepreneur, software engineer, co-founder of Silicon Valley venture capital firm 'Andreesson Horowitz' and of course multi-billionaire, Marc was interviewed by Peter Diamandis for the SU summer graduate program entrepreneurs and I to hear.

I gained valuable insight into the behind-the-scenes trials and tribulations involved with starting and running a company as well as investing into one. When asked what two pieces of advice he would give to the next generation Marc suggested:

1) Use lead bullets not silver - focus on working more, not spending more

2) Work smarter, not harder - if a strategy doesn't work, then change it. 

The icing on the Silicon cake was finally getting a chance to try on a pair of Google Glass. Luckily for me, future-medicine genius & medical chair of SU, Daniel Kraft whom I met last year in Florida was in attendance and kind enough to accommodate my geeky excitement and let me try the $1500 gadget on. I have to say, saying "okay Glass" to a pair of glasses on my head did make me feel pretty ridiculous. Especially since Google have yet to add a posh British-girl accent recognition feature! However the capability that the product already has and will have are endless.

What do you think? Is Glass the future of hands-free technology or an invasion of privacy? One thing's for sure: it will definitely become the Marmite of the technology world: you either love it or you hate it!

-Nikita

50th Anniversary of Women in Space

June 16th marks the day that the first woman flew into space. 50 years ago this weekend, Valentina Tereshkova flew on the USSR spacecraft Vostok 6, 2 years after Yuri Gagarin's 1961 pioneering spaceflight. 

The aim of her flight was to test whether the female body was able to survive in zero gravity as well as determining whether a woman could pilot a spacecraft. Following her 70.8 hour flight, Valentina never flew again but has become a symbol for women around the world who are inspired to follow in her footsteps.

By the mid-80s, female astronauts had become more prominent, amongst them Sally Ride the first American woman in space, Helen Sharman the first British female astronaut and Eileen Collins, the first female pilot and commander of a Space Shuttle. NASA astronaut Sunita Williams holds the record for longest single spaceflight for a woman (192 days), total spacewalks for a woman (seven) and the most spacewalk time for a woman (50 hours, 40 mins). 

The plethora of notable female astronauts that there now are serve as role models for the younger generation to look up. to and identify with. They are demonstrations of the exploration of space by both men and women as something achievable and most importantly, necessary for the future of our species. My personal role models are Nicole Stott whom I had the chance to meet last year and Sunita Williams (who is on my list of people to meet)!

To this day, Valentina Tereshkova remains as the only woman to have  made a solo space flight. At 76 years old, she is now willing to make a one-way trip to Mars, her favourite planet. It is this courage, determination and love of exploration that I believe will enable women from all backgrounds to believe in themselves and work towards achieving similar and inevitably greater success. 

The 50th woman in space, astronaut Karen Nyberg who's currently aboard the International Space Station has commemorated this special weekend dedicated to Valentina and females working in and towards the space industry in the video below:

-Nikita

Becoming a NASA Intern

For the past 3 weeks I've been interning at NASA Ames Research Center in the Silicon Valley, San Francisco. Renowned for its innovative approach, Ames is the perfect place for me to explore where I want my career to take me and to meet extra-ordinary people that can help me to identify this. 

Serving as the newest member of the NASA New Media Innovation Team (NMIT) I've been lucky enough to have the most interesting, creative and intelligent mentor, Dr. Yvonne Clearwater. With over 40 years of work at Ames, Yvonne joined Ames as a member of the International Space Station (ISS) design team and was the Principle Investigator on early ISS designs. As well as this, she developed the official NASA App, 'NASA on the (Flickr) Commons and the inspirational website NASA ArtSpace (found here: http://www.nasa.gov/connect/artspace/)

Together, we are working to increase public awareness and involvement in the creative cultural convergence of art, science and technology as it serves to inspire space exploration. We have been developing innovative projects to increase public communication and connection with NASA. In particular, utilising the powerful tool of new media platforms to increase public engagement with NASA Ames.

I'll be working here for 3 months and already have had the opportunity to go to a number of events at exciting places such as the SETI Institute: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, Singularity University as well as meeting the Director of Ames Pete Worden and the NASA Administrator Charles Bolden!

Lunchtime conversations between the synthetic biologist to the neighbouring astrophysicist and their quantum computing friend have become an everyday occurrence for my fellow interns and I, and it's something I don't think I'll ever get used to hearing. It's s a daily reminder of the unique environment I'm in and I feel very fortunate to be in the midst of the ground-breaking research and technological advancement that is and will help us explore the Universe as well as sustain life as we know it on Earth.

-Nikita

From Russia With Love

Credit: Angeliki Kapoglou

What do Space Masters students do in their free time? Go to Russia of course! The day after our exams, we flew to Moscow for our very own Yuri's Week in the home of the first human in space. 

I was lucky enough to stand in front of as well as touch, the actual capsule that Yuri completed his first orbit around the Earth in. S.P Korolev Rocket & Space Cooperation ' Energia' housed the priceless piece, giving my friends and I a tangible piece of history for us to experience first-hand. The Red Square, beautiful in the Spring sun and St. Basil's Cathedral (or the ice cream castle as I like to call it) glimmered in the 30 degree heat of Russian Spring time.

We were lucky enough to visit Star City, the centre of Russian Spaceflight and where astronauts train for flight in mock ups of the versatile Soyuz capsule that transports them off and onto this planet. Another astronaut training method is the centrifuge. Spinning in order to simulate flight dynamics and sustained G's, the world's largest centrifuge TsF-18 is pictured above in the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre. It's immense power and size means that those inside will experience the sheer force of gravity as it simulates a rocket launch and re-entry into Earth's atmosphere. Before leaving Moscow, we were sure to experience the infamous Russian Ballet in a stunning performance of Cinderella.

St. Petersburg was our next stop. After an overnight train & several Hogwarts references later we spent our last weekend in Russia in the beautiful, European-inspired city. Home to the Hermitage, one of the largest art museums in the world and the stunning Church of Our Saviour on the Spilled Blood, the city of St. Petersburg was one of the most beautifully sculpted places I have ever visited.

Next on my schedule? Three months in San Francisco Bay... better get packing!

-Nikita