Astro Pi: In Space, No One Can Hear You Code
British ESA astronaut Tim Peake has been on board the International Space Station with our Astro Pi units, Izzy and Ed, for exactly six months today. As Tim prepares to return to Earth this Saturday, we bring you the third part of their animated adventures: when our two spacefaring Raspberry Pi computers run into a problem even their hero Robonaut can’t fix, who can help them?
During his time in space, Tim has been using Ed and Izzy to run apps, carry out science experiments and play music designed and coded by UK school students, and he’s taken some great photos of them on the station:
Both computers have also spent some weeks in a flight recorder mode, saving sensor readings to a database every ten seconds, and we’ve made these space data available for everyone to download and analyse. Take a look at our Flight Data Analysis resource to explore what they recorded as they orbited our planet.
Ed and Izzy will say goodbye to Tim when he returns from space this Saturday; you’ll be able to watch him land. Our Astro Pi units will stay on board the ISS until 2022, and we hope we’ll soon be able to share exciting news about what they’ll be doing next. Stay tuned!
7 comments
Steve Foster
It will be exciting but sad to watch Tim leave the space station and return to Earth. There has been such an effort to encourage people’s (and especially children’s) interest in STEM subjects, as part of this project, it will be a shame when this chapter closes. Then again, as it says in this video, the story will continue and I look forward to watching interviews with Tim and maybe at some point in the future actually go to a talk by Tim. Of course I’m also looking forward to what happens next with Izzy and Ed. So thank you Helen for the update.
Moon boy
Maybe Ed and Izzy will go truly international? Such as getting NASA involved with similar competitions involving schools in the US and upcoming astronauts. And even open up the challenge to the higher level Universities to put together some interesting experiments. That would be exciting! So how about it NASA bigwigs, are you willing to put in some money to launch such an event? It would be such a waste to have the two just sitting there doing nothing for the next eight years…
Alan Mc (Irish Framboise)
I can’t believe that Tim’s and the Astro Pi Twins have already been up there 6 months. Wow it’s been such an exciting time and flown by so fast (literally).
Looking forward to hearing more of what Ed and Izzy will get up to next and see if they’re going to meet some new friends in space in future years ;o)
Safe journey home Major Tim, and thanks for inspiring us all!
W. H. Heydt
So…. That last bit means there are plans to bring Ed and Izzy back down? Or is 2022 the expected demise of the ISS and they’ll ride it down like something out of Dr. Strangelove?
Raspberry Pi Staff Helen Lynn — post author
Yes, they’ll come back down. 2022 is when the coin-cell batteries in their real-time clocks reach their end of life.
asansör
I comment I want to show thumbnails of the next. How to make this ?
تعیین سطح زبان
Good for Tim.
I wish I can walk my way out of our planet one day …
Wish me luck please :)