Andrei Hanu, co-Principal Investigator for the NEUDOSE satellite project, answers questions about McMaster’s first space mission.
BY Jesse Dorey
March 14, 2023
A team of over 150 students and researchers at McMaster have spent the last eight years building a satellite capable of measuring radiation levels in space.
Space radiation is dangerous and with humans aspiring to travel farther and spend longer in space, it’s important to understand the radiation they’re exposed to.
Andrei Hanu is the co-Principal Investigator of the NEUDOSE mission and a McMaster graduate. Here, he answers questions about how the team’s satellite works and explores the impact NEUDOSE will have on the world of space travel.
What is NEUDOSE?
NEUDOSE — which stands for Neutron Dosimetry & Exploration (pronounced “new dose”) — is McMaster’s first satellite project.
NEUDOSE is intended to do two things. First, it’s meant to train undergraduate and graduate students in the full end-to-end process of designing a satellite, launching a satellite and operating a satellite in orbit.
Its secondary mission is a science objective. We’ve developed a special instrument to specifically measure in real time the types and levels of radiation that astronauts are exposed to. That instrument is on the NEUDOSE satellite, and when it is deployed into low Earth orbit, it will collect data and transmit it down to us at McMaster University.
How does NEUDOSE work?
The way NEUDOSE measures potentially dangerous radiation is by carrying a special instrument inside of it. This instrument is called a Charged & Neutral Particle Tissue Equivalent Proportional Counter (CNP-TECP). This is an instrument that we developed in our lab over the last five years, and it is actually two instruments in one.
A satellite built by McMaster students and researchers is heading into orbit to help protect astronauts as they travel further and stay out there longer. (Kayla Da Silva, McMaster University)
The centre of the device is a TECP. This is a special kind of dosimeter that measures the dose from any kind of radiation that goes through it.
The outside of the device is another kind of detector called an anti-coincidence detector. This is what allows us to separate the dose from neutrons and the dose from charged particles into separate measurements.
All of these measurements are done in real time on the instrument. This data is then beamed down to the McMaster ground station for analysis.
How will the data collected by NEUDOSE be used?
After some initial analysis, the data we collect will be made available to the public. The intent of this is to produce maps of radiation in low Earth orbit.
These maps will be used by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) to determine the dose astronauts will receive while they’re in low Earth orbit performing various activities on the International Space Station (ISS). This will help determine the radiation risk to astronauts.
Right now, this is a technology demonstration mission, but eventually NEUDOSE will be a standard radiation instrument for future missions to the Moon and eventually deep space.
How did you come up with the idea for the NEUDOSE project?
The NEUDOSE project started in October 2014.
During that time, I was a post-doctoral fellow at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and I had many colleagues that were developing satellite projects, an opportunity that was not available in Canada at that time.
The idea of being able to experience the process of designing an instrument, launching it and then eventually operating it in space was extremely exciting. And in visiting many of their labs, I got excited about the opportunity to do something like this ourselves.
I got motivated and decided to reach out to my former PhD advisor, Dr. Soo Hyun Byun at McMaster, and we started the project together in 2015.
What were the different stages of NEUDOSE?
The NEUDOSE satellite was developed in two parallel phases that merged over the last four years and eventually, now, over the last few months.
First was the actual concept development of the satellite. This is called a mission concept development stage, and it culminated with a mission concept review. This was held one year after we were awarded our grant. The CSA came, visited the team, listened to a presentation and gave us the go ahead that the mission concept was sound.
From there, we went through the preliminary design review, where we designed a high-level prototype of the satellite. It didn’t have all the hardware, so it was an attempt to make sure we were able to actually build the satellite. In this stage, we built small prototypes to ensure that each concept worked.
From there, we went to the critical design review, which essentially means building the components that will be launched into space.
And, finally, the construction process ended with the flight readiness review, which culminated with the handoff of the satellite to the CSA.
We’re extremely thankful to the Canadian Space Agency for giving us this opportunity and trusting us to build this mission.
But this is just the first mission. It won’t be the last.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
