The activities around the space research and technology development in Finland are in steep raise right now: the New Space movement and need for a closer look at the threats of the averse space weather for our technology-dependant society are driving the research in our country. These are also clearly something close to Finnish mentality.
The current wave was launched at the Aalto university in the early 2010's, but the space-related history of the Otaniemi campus begun in the 1960's. The plans for participating the European space programs were drawn, the first satellite TV transmission was received at the university in the 1970's and the first Finnish spacetech was conceived in Otaniemi in 1980's.
But the Aalto in Space exhibition doesn't look back. It paints a big picture about the current space related activities and looks in the future.
The space technology development is mostly about the CubeSats and remote sensing. The research is focussed on Sun, Sun-Earth connection, space weather, plasma in space and black holes. The observations about these are made with space based instruments and at the Metsähovi radio observatory. Naturally science and technology development are interconnected and the new satellites are used for observations for the Aalto research groups.
Also the brightest stars of the Finnish space industry, companies Iceye and Reaktor Space Lab, have spun out from the university. They also are based still in the Otaniemi area.
The Aalto in Space exhibition displays the current and planned fleet of the Aalto nanosatellites with real sized models. The instruments are shown and the multiple displays explain the different aspects of the space research at Aalto.
The most exciting part of the exhibition is surely a virtual reality trip to space; the research simulation software will be "misused" for entertaining and educational purposes.
There is also an artistic touch: Terrella Cubica from Karoliina Paatos is a highly technical video installation of the northern lights simulator.
The exhibition is free and open to everyone. It will be at Dipoli Gallery from 21 September to 20 October 2018.
