Independent Tweetups | Space Tweep Society

MarsTweetup: experience a Mars analog simulation in a cave

by @olidax@twitter on Mar 5, 2012 • No Comments

Since Nasa started organizing tweetups for space events I always had in mind to do a similiar thing in Austria. But I wasn’t sure if such an event could attrack tweeps to come to Austria. Then last year the first #spacetweetup was annoucend. A tweetup on European soil organized by DLR (German Aerospace Center) and ESA (European Space Agency), what unique opportunity for me. Of course I had to apply and luckily got in. This day was amazing (more articles on #spacetweetup) and after that day it was clear I want to organize a tweetup in Austria too and I was sure, my new friends will help me.

But what event could be attractive enough, so that people from Europe would like to travel too?
How about a Mars analog simulation, where a Mars spacesuit simulator is tested? How about a test site, which is situated at ca. 1,300 sealevel in a cave, in a region which is a world heritage site?

Sounds great

And as I’m a volunteer at the Austrian Space Forum (@oewf), which is building the Mars analog spacesuit simulator Aouda.X, I conviced the OEWF board, that we have to do a tweetup during our Dachstein Mars Simulation and the idea of the #MarsTweetup was born.

Inside the Giant Ice cave

Some context on the Dachstein Mars Simulation:
Between 27Apr – 01May2012, a five day Mars simulation, coordinated by the Austrian Space Forum, will take place at the Dachstein caves (Mammoth & Giant Ice cave) in Austria. The Dachstein region is located in southern Upper Austria near Hallstatt in Austria (47°28′32.5″N 13°36′23.2″E). The geology of the Dachstein massif is dominated by the so-called Dachstein-Kalk (“Dachstein limestone”), dating from Triassic times. In common with other karstic areas, the Dachstein is permeated by a rich cave system, including some of the largest caves in Austria. The Dachstein is also famous for its fossils, including megalodonts.

But why in the world, should we go into a cave for a Mars simulation?

Since serveral years we know that caves exist on Mars and that these caves are probably one of the hotspots for astrobiology on that planet. Caves are a natural shelter against the harsh environment on the surface of Mars and it’s only logical if humans once make a step on Mars, they probably will look into caves too. Therefore is necessary to investigate in operational issues related to (sub)surface operations in a Mars analog environment.

20 Twitter followers have the chance to be part of this unique Mars simulation. This kind of test has never been done before. Not only the Aouda.X spacesuit simulator will be tested, also international partners will participate at the simulation. The Polish MarsSociety, will test their MAGMA2 rover, who won the University Rover Challenge in 2011, a team of the WISDOM rader (a rader experiment on ESA’s ExoMars rover) will also conduct experiments as well as the Part-Time Scientist (a Google Lunar X-Prize team who are building a lunar rover) and the Jet Propulsion Lab (remote science experiment).

Registration for #MarsTweetup is open until 8th March, 12:00 p.m. CET.

#MarsTweetup will be held on Saturday, 28th April 2011 (ca. 09:00 a.m – 5:00 p.m)

Independent Tweetups / Space Tweeps / spacetweetup / Tweetups

SpaceTweeps tweetup in Cologne: #SpaceKoelsch2

by @timmermansr@twitter on Jan 22, 2012 • No Comments

After the great success of the first European #SpaceTweetup, a bunch of European spacetweeps, led by DLR social media editor @HenningKrause, decided to start the new year with a new tweetup. More a networking event than a tweetup, it became the sequel to #SpaceKoelsch. Last September this was the pre-party to the ESA/DLR #Spacetweetup. Now the event in a typical Cologne beerhall became the main event itself. #SpaceKoelsch 2 was born!

With the date set to Saturday evening January 14th, a group of tweeps decided to turn the evening into a spacetweeps weekend, with a pre-party on Friday evening and an ad-hoc program during the day on Saturday. And again it was DLR’s Henning to jump forward and organize a perfect daytime spacetweeps excursion to two of Europe’s most famous radio telescopes, which happen to be near Cologne. A great start to a great new spaceyear! Here is a report of the event(s): (more…)

Independent Tweetups / Launches / Roscosmos / Soyuz / Space Tweeps / Twitter

SoyuzTweetup Baikonur – Launch Day!

by @timmermansr@twitter on Dec 28, 2011 • No Comments

More launch pads, SoyuzTweetup and a Launch!

Baikonur, 21 December 2011 – Finally. Today is the day we have been living up to for a long time. The launch of Soyuz TMA-03M, with ‘the’ Dutch ESA astronaut André Kuipers on board. It is still dark outside when I wake up around 8 o’clock. Today our program consists of two major visits. First we will go to the furthest launch location at the cosmodrome: the Proton launch facility. Then we have some time in the city before going to launch pad 1 for the launch in the early evening.

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Human Spaceflight / Independent Tweetups / Launches / Roscosmos / Soyuz / Space Tweeps

SoyuzTweetup Baikonur – Day 3

by @timmermansr@twitter on Dec 28, 2011 • No Comments

Launch Pads, Space Shuttle and Public Outreach

Baikonur, 20 December 2011 – After breakfast at our hotel we are greeted again by our guide Elena and driver Said. The uncomfortable van is heated up and waiting for us, this time with the Tsenki security lady already inside. When we leave she hands us two “cosmodrome rules” forms and asks us to sign a list with our names on it. No idea why this was not needed yesterday, but we happily comply. We are waved past the city exit checkpoint, and easily pass the cosmodrome entrance checkpoint. Then again a long empty road to the cosmodrome facilities. This time we go straight on, towards the far end of this middle section at site 250. This launch pad is no longer active, but of great historical importance, as it was built for the Russian space shuttle Buran in the 1980’s.
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Human Spaceflight / Independent Tweetups / ISS / Launches / Roscosmos / Social Media / Soyuz / Tweetups / Twitter

SoyuzTweetup: A new virtual space tweetup concept?

by @timmermansr@twitter on Dec 7, 2011 • No Comments

When starting the initiative for a space tweetup in Baikonur I was hoping for a large number of live attendees to accompany me to Kazakhstan for the December 21 launch. But with launch dates being suspended indefinitely after the Progress M12-M loss in August, and a late announcement of new – still uncertain – launch dates around Christmas, it is not a surprise that many interested would not risk an expensive trip to the middle of nowhere under those circumstances.

So here I am, rethinking the idea of the tweetup. How can we have a tweetup without any other spacetweeps in Baikonur? Well, the answer is simple: I will have all fellow spacetweeps travelling with me! This is 2011! Virtual presence at a tweetup is as valuable as physical presence! Past launch events have shown that tweeps do not necessarily need to be onsite to have great interaction with each other and with folks present! Livestream video is now commonplace during all international launches, be it by NASA, Roscosmos, Arianespace or even the Chinese space agency. A combination of Twitter and these live images make for a great event.

So no need to be disappointed about travelling to Baikonur by myself (well, in a small tour group with a handful of non-tweeps space fans). I will represent all my spacetweep friends that follow the event through several news updates, video feeds and my reports on twitter! And I will do my best to add some couleur locale to all that news. Sort of a live onsite reporter on twitter for all my followers. I will do the travel and stand the blistering cold, while the other participants can enjoy the experience from the warmth of their own home or office

I am looking forward to traveling to Baikonur with all of you! Please follow my live adventures here, from 17 until 24 December.

Note: Remco will travel to Baikonur to attend the launch of Soyuz TMA-03M on 21 December 2011. On this date NASA astronaut Donald Pettit (@astro_pettit), ESA astronaut André Kuipers (@astro_andre) and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Kononeko will be launched to ISS. Here they will join the current ISS crew to form a normal 6-men crew again, as expedition 30 and 31.

Independent Tweetups / Launches / NASATweetup / Space Shuttle / STS-135 / Tweetups / Twitter

Twitter Resources for @NASA Launch of Atlantis (STS-135)

by @ralphhightower@twitter on Jun 19, 2011 • 1 Comment

The @NASA sponsored @NASATweetup held at the iconic countdown clock at the press site:
@NASATweetup/sts-135-launch

Space View Park Tweetup:
@SVPTweetup

NASA Causeway:
@CausewayTweetup/sts135-causewaytweetup

Follow the @NASA_Astronauts #FinalFour: @Astro_Ferg @Astro_Doug @Astro_Sandy @Astro_Rex

Education & Public Outreach / Events / Independent Tweetups / Simulation / Social Media / Tweetups / Twitter

A Tweetup in Space? Well, simulated

by @thenasaman on Jan 21, 2010 • 1 Comment

So, you’ve seen the video of the Apollo astronauts heading to the moon aboard their spacecrafts, and you’ve seen the pictures of the people sitting at their consoles monitoring over system settings onboard the spacecraft. Sounds neat, huh? Think you’d want to try that? You can!

Myself, along with @CraftLass are planning a tweetup for anybody who is interested in New York. Included would be a simulated space mission at the Lower Hudson Valley Challenger Center in Airmont, NY (just a short hop from New York City). The mission would involve a 3 hour mission to either the Moon, Mars, or to Rendezvous with Comet Encke.

If you are interested, please either leave a comment or contact myself, @thenasaman, on Twitter. Also, included in that message, please specify which mission choice you would prefer of the three options. If we can get enough people, this will be able to happen. A date has yet to be chosen, so if anything is better than something else, let me know as well. For more information on the Lower Hudson Valley Challenger Center, follow it on Twitter as @LHVCC and of course visit the website, http://lhvcc.com