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The Launch of the Irish Satellite



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How does a country start its own space program? Come with us to Ireland to find out, and meet one of the students whose childhood dreams of launching a satellite are about to come true. Lana Salmon is part of a team from University College Dublin building Ireland’s first-ever satellite. We get to step inside the lab and learn what it takes to design, engineer, and launch experiments into space.

Want to learn more about EIRSAT?

Photos from our visit to "Irish Space Lab"

Here's Lána, with her face full of stars in the floor of the University College Dublin Sciences building:

Lana Salmon with a galaxy overlaid atop her photo
Lana Salmon standing in the lobby of an academic building

Lana holds the model of EIRSAT. At the bottom is the antennae that will pop out once in space.

Lana holds the model of EIRSAT. At the bottom is the antennae that will pop out once in space.

Lana holding a testing satellite. It is about a foot tall.

This experiment on the exterior of the satellite will test paints developed by an Irish space company.

Lana holding a 3D printed model of the satellite. It is about a foot tall with black and orange materials.

A 3D printed model of the satellite shows where the experiments and technology goes inside.

A windowed room inside a larger room. Computers, desks, and other equipment is inside.

Here you can see the clean room (inside the windows) built into the larger lab.

Lana wearing a hairnet in the lab.

Lana shows off her hairnet for the clean room. The special coats, shoe covers, wipes, and grounding cables below are in a small antechamber divided by a heavy plastic curtain.

Lab coats are hanging in the clean room behind glass.
Lana with a hairnet in the clean room.

Lana inside the clean room. See the clutter outside! And the cleanliness inside!

The clean room again.

A better view of the equipment inside the clean room. The desk counter is where the satellite was built!

Here's our challenge for the episode:

If you were going to send something into space, what would it be? What would it study? What experiments would be on it?

Hear more from our visit when you pledge to our Patreon for just $1 a month! We release bonus interview episodes with every scientist we feature.

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