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MAKE THE MOON YOUR LAB

Lab2Moon challenged the brilliant young minds of the world with a unique task: to build an experiment – physically no bigger than a soda can – that would help humanity catalyze multi-planetary life. The winning experiment would then be carried by the TeamIndus spacecraft to the Moon.

The applicants were asked to think big, dream bigger, and present their experiment to an expert panel of:

Dr K Kasturirangan,
former chairman, ISRO

Dr Alain Bensoussan,
former head, CNES

Dr Priyamvada Natarajan,
department of astronomy and physics, Yale University

We received over 3,000 entries from 15 countries. The semi-finals saw 15 teams defend their experiments, and struck by the immense potential of the experiments, the panel finally recommended that we fly not one, but eight different experiments to the moon. Working with these creative young people has brought TeamIndus Foundation that much closer to its goal of inspiring the next billion to aim for the moon, and shoot for the stars.

Winning Entry: Space4Life

Idea: Radiation Shield Using Bacteria

Team Members: Mattia Barbarossa, Dario Pisanti, Altea Renata Maria Nemolato
Origin: Naples, Italy

Radio-Shield is our experiment to test the effectiveness and efficiency of an innovative radiation shield: BIOS. BIOS, or cyanoBacterial radiatIOn Shield, innovatively employs biomass as radiation shielding material. It is composed of a colony of cyanobacteria — primitive photosynthetic prokaryotes able to resist extremely harsh conditions.

Runner up: Team ZΩI

Idea: Photosynthesis On Moon By Extremophile Cyanobacteria

Photosynthesis forms the basis for almost all life on earth, and we want to know if it can take place with the moon’s very hostile conditions. To test this, we have devised an experiment using not plants but extremophile cyanobacteria, specifically Chroococcidiopsis or Gloeocapsa, which have already survived 548 days outside the ISS in low earth orbit. Cyanobacteria are considered the toughest photosynthetic organisms ever found.

Shortlist #1: Team EARS

Idea: Electrostatics Active Radiation Shield Experiment

Team Members: Saumil Bharat Vaidya, Aishwarya Ajit Mungale, Aniket Anant Kamat
Origin: Mumbai, India

For space agencies around the world, protecting space travellers from deadly radiation is one of the greatest challenges. Most of the radiation in space consists of charged particles.

For space agencies around the world, protecting space travellers from deadly radiation is one of the greatest challenges. Most of the radiation in space consists of charged particles.

Shortlist #1: Team EARS

Idea: Electrostatics Active Radiation Shield Experiment

Team Members: Samuel Brass, Nicholas Doughty, Elliot Robinson
Origin: UK

LunaDome is an experiment designed to sustain an earth-like atmosphere in a small dome on the lunar surface for a prolonged period of time.

The device will consist of a small bottle of air compressed to roughly 60 bar which will supply the air necessary to inflate the flexible dome to its full size. Radiation from the sun and internal heat loss will cause the pressure in the dome to deviate from the desired value of 1 bar. The experiment will test the control system required to maintain these pressure levels.

Shortlist #1: Team EARS

Idea: Electrostatics Active Radiation Shield Experiment

Team Members: Saumil Bharat Vaidya, Aishwarya Ajit Mungale, Aniket Anant Kamat
Origin: Mumbai, India

For space agencies around the world, protecting space travellers from deadly radiation is one of the greatest challenges. Most of the radiation in space consists of charged particles.

For space agencies around the world, protecting space travellers from deadly radiation is one of the greatest challenges. Most of the radiation in space consists of charged particles.

Shortlist #1: Team EARS

Idea: Electrostatics Active Radiation Shield Experiment

Team Members: Saumil Bharat Vaidya, Aishwarya Ajit Mungale, Aniket Anant Kamat
Origin: Mumbai, India

For space agencies around the world, protecting space travellers from deadly radiation is one of the greatest challenges. Most of the radiation in space consists of charged particles.

For space agencies around the world, protecting space travellers from deadly radiation is one of the greatest challenges. Most of the radiation in space consists of charged particles.

Shortlist #1: Team EARS

Idea: Electrostatics Active Radiation Shield Experiment

8

Team Members: Saumil Bharat Vaidya, Aishwarya Ajit Mungale, Aniket Anant Kamat
Origin: Mumbai, India

For space agencies around the world, protecting space travellers from deadly radiation is one of the greatest challenges. Most of the radiation in space consists of charged particles.

For space agencies around the world, protecting space travellers from deadly radiation is one of the greatest challenges. Most of the radiation in space consists of charged particles.

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