From 4 to 20 February, Beijing is hosting the Winter Olympics 2022. As usual, we will have a look at some space applications!
© Xinhua/Xing Guangli
Rocket speed bobsleighs
To boost the performances of the national team at the Winter Olympics, China turned towards its aerospace technologies. One particular example has been the involvement of Chinese aerospace industries for the development of bobsleighs. The homemade sleighs benefit from light and strong aerospace materials (carbon fiber composites) and improved aerodynamics. Compared with sleighs purchased from overseas, the new ones have an 8% lower wind drag level, which will be a significant boost to athletes’ performances. The Chinese bobsleigh team only made its first appearance in the Winter Olympic Games in 2018 and has been relying on imported sleighs. With the new domestic sleighs, the country not only provides its athletes with better customised designs, but also hopes to increase the popularity of winter sports among the Chinese public.
A wind tunnel developed by the China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics (CAAA) was also used for the optimisation of other sportswear and equipment, and to help athletes find the best postures and team formations.
Controlling ski vibration
After wind resistance, vibrations are the next most important speed-limiting factor. Controlling vibrations, noise, and deflections is essential for the sustainability of launchpad structures and deployable space systems. As already illustrated in a previous blog post, vibration control technology improves the performance of different sports equipment such as tennis rackets, but also skis and snowboards. When a ski moves over snow, heating caused by friction between the ski’s gliding surface and snowflakes creates a film of water, the thickness of which directly affects gliding conditions. Vibrations and related damping greatly influence the contact time between the ski and the snow to create the water film. An ESA vibration control system proved useful to damp the ski vibrations and get the best gliding conditions.
© ESA
From space helmets to ski goggles
Some of the earliest research into scratch-resistant and sunlight-filtering lenses drew from research on coatings for astronaut helmet visors. Similar to astronauts in space, skiers can face extremely bright sunlight, especially when it’s reflected off the snow. NASA’s light-filtering dyes now also help skiers to block up to 95 percent of blue light, making it easier to see the terrain clearly. On top of that, goggles can remain fog-free because of a NASA process that coats the lens with a combination of liquid detergent, deionised water, and fire-resistant oil. NASA also developed an abrasion-resistant coating for the astronaut space helmet visors, resulting in today’s scratch-resistant lenses of sunglasses and ski goggles.
About space suits, sharp optics, and moon boots
To protect astronauts against the bitter cold in space, NASA worked with private industry to create temperature-adaptive materials for use in space suits and gloves. The resulting phase-change material enhances the wearer’s comfort by moderating temperatures between the body and the environment. Today, phase-change materials and aerogel-infused insulation can be found in ski jackets and outwear across the globe.
At the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, American short- and long-track speed skaters used a blade-sharpening tool inspired by principles used to create optics for the Hubble Space Telescope.
NASA’s memory foam, that takes shape of impressed objects and returns to its original shape, can be found in helmets and ski boots because of the impact absorption of the material. The design of Apollo astronaut protective footwear has also been used to improve ski boots, allowing boots to flex without significant distortion and even to install foot-warming devices.
Cosmic torches and medals
As part of the torch relay of the Sochi Winter Games, a pair of cosmonauts took an Olympic torch on their spacewalk in 2014. Olympic torches were brought aboard spacecraft for the 1996 and 2000 Games, but this was the first time in history one went into open space.
During the same Winter Olympics in 2014, special medallions were crafted for Olympians winning a gold medal on February 15. One year before that specific day, a 20 m sized near-Earth asteroid exploded over Russia. Regarded as the most widely witnessed asteroid strike in modern history, the Chelyabinsk meteor was also the largest recorded natural object to have fallen from space since 1908. The space rock broke into small fragments, which rained down over the area’s snow-covered fields. Some of the recovered pieces were eventually embedded in Olympic medals.
Lunar skiing
Because of the lower gravity, astronauts quickly learned that a skipping motion worked well to move around on the moon. Apollo17 geologist Harrison Schmitt adopted a different technique. He invented a kind off no-gear lunar cross-country skiing, which allowed him to glide over the surface faster than his fellow astronauts. He later explained that by swinging his arms and legs cross-country style, he was able to propel himself with a push to glide above the surface, leaving only toe-pushes in the moondust. However, any actual skiing or sledding on the moon would require very tough equipment since moondust grains have very sharp edges and scratch anything that comes in contact with them.
Monitoring ice and snow cover
One tenth of the Earth’s surface is permanently covered in ice, but snow and ice is present across the world in varying amounts during the seasons. This process of ice forming and melting is an important indication of climate change, and satellites play a vital role in tracking this.
More about satellite applications for skiing and in general? Be sure to keep an eye on the Eurisy channels and the Satellites for Sports initiative!