VR headset a success on the ISS: Cycling through Danish landscape
After six months in space Andreas Mogensen is back on Earth. He handed over the role of commander of the International Space Station to his successor before returning to the Florida coast on board the Crew Dragon spacecraft with his colleagues Jasmin Moghbeli, Satoshi Furukawa, and Konstantin Borisov.
It has been an eventful six months for the Danish astronaut, who is the longest-serving ESA commander on the International Space Station, ISS. As part of the Huginn mission, he has carried out ten different experiments in space, and Danish Aerospace Company is particularly pleased with Andreas’s contribution to research.
“It looks extremely promising, and it seems that all three experiments have gone completely according to plan,” Thomas A. E. Andersen says to Ingeniøren.
As CEO of Danish Aerospace Company, he has helped develop three of the ten experiments that Andreas Mogensen was to carry out over six months on the International Space Station.
This includes testing of medical monitoring equipment (Wearable) for monitoring the body’s condition in space, testing of virtual reality (VR) for exercise in space, and testing of a filtration system for water purification in space in collaboration with the Lyngby-based company Aquaporin, which specialises in water filters.
The medical monitoring equipment consisted of a belt fitted around his chest. Among other things, it had been used to monitor his ECG, i.e. the heart’s electrical signals, skin temperature, and respiratory rate. According to Thomas A. E. Andersen, the experiment went well.
“I can’t tell you details about the data, as the private medical data is confidential, but it has worked as intended and has provided us with many hours of good data,” he says.
The belt is portable, and the system can measure and store data continuously for up to 16 hours on a single charge.
Andreas Morgensen brought along 10 experiments to space, but experiment no. 9 had to be abandoned, as the company behind the experiment underwent a restructuring in the autumn of 2023.
1: Light in space
Testing of an LED panel that imitates natural daylight.
2: Giant lightning in the atmosphere filmed at 100,000 frames per second
Understanding lightning can give us insight into how lightning affects the atmosphere’s concentration of greenhouse gases and thus Earth’s climate.
3: Demonstration of Wearable for space and extreme environments
Testing of medical monitoring equipment for monitoring the body’s condition during space flights.
4: Andreas Mogensen takes pictures of the Moon from the ISS
Focuses primarily on Earthshine.
5: Virtual Assistance Mental Balance (VAMB)
Testing of VR for the mental well-being of astronauts.
6: Virtual Reality for exercise in space
7: Testing of a filtration system for water purification
New water purification system that is fully transportable and can be used to recycle wastewater on missions.
8: In-ear EEG device to monitor astronauts’ sleep
9: Rock-IoT Science
Platform for school children that allows them to carry out experiments in a weightless state together with Andreas Mogensen. Not completed.
10: Metal 3D printing in a weightless state
Source: Vildmedrummet.dk
Illustration: Danish Aerospace Company.
Cycling in space
VR for exercise in space has been a tough nut to crack for Danish Aerospace Company, as the technology uses gravity as a reference point. In space, the image will begin to drift after a few minutes due to the reference point, the CEO explains.
Therefore, it has been a challenge to find the right VR headset, but they have succeeded by modifying some HTC VIVE Focus 3 headsets, which do not use gravity as a reference point, but instead an optical reference.
Once they had the headset, they had to choose some specific routes Andreas could enjoy while wearing the VR headset in space.
Illustration: ESA - Det Europæiske Rumagentur.
The choice initially fell on the Odense River Valley, Svanninge Hills, and a mountain bike route in Silkeborg. A fourth route was decided through a competition, with ten-year-old Isabella’s route along the sandy west coast of Jutland as the winning route. All the routes had different resistance levels, depending on whether the route led through sand, hills, or forest.
“One of my favourite experiments or activities on board the International Space Station is using this Virtual Reality headset for exercising on our bicycle,” Andreas Mogensen says in a video from the end of February, posted on European Space Agency’s (ESA) website.
Originally, the plan was for him to use the headset at least three times and ideally six times during the mission. But after he used the headset a few times, he announced that he would use it every time he cycled.
Thus, he has used it more than 20 times, according to Thomas A. E. Andersen, and Andreas Mogensen has even gotten several of the other astronauts to use the headset, even though it was not part of their tasks, and the response has been good from the entire crew.
So, the VR headset became a bigger success than one would have dared to hope for, and the future is promising for Danish Aerospace Company’s technology.
“What the future holds remains to be seen. Many find the technology fun and exciting, and the astronauts talk about it and are excited. The purpose of VR is to spark excitement and motivation,” Thomas A. E. Andersen says and continues:
“Our ambition is for our technologies to be used for more missions. It’s also not at all unrealistic that future crews on the Space Station may use this hardware.”
