Space Park Leicester have begun work to design and build a Double-Walled Isolator (DWI).
Space Park Leicester is the University of Leicester’s science and innovation hub and is leading a European Space Agency (ESA) project to develop advanced containment technology for the study of extra-terrestrial materials.
This scope includes samples that could potentially be returned from Mars.
The €5m initiative will see scientists at the Leicester facility design, build, and test a Double-Walled Isolator (DWI).
The €5m initiative will see scientists at the Leicester facility design, build, and test a Double-Walled Isolator
The Double-Walled Isolator is a self-contained, ultra-clean mini-laboratory that will enable the safe handling and analysis of off-planet samples.
The project builds on previous work by the Leicester team in developing an earlier prototype DWI.
Designed to avoid cross-contamination and protect both operators and valuable extra-terrestrial material, the isolator will incorporate state-of-the-art robotics to minimise human interaction.
The Double-Walled Isolator is a self-contained, ultra-clean mini-laboratory that will enable the safe handling and analysis of off-planet samples
Samples will be manipulated within an inert gas environment using robotic arms and other handling technologies.
This will allow examination with an optical microscope and a Raman spectrometer. These instruments will be used to gather geological and chemical data from the material.
The DWI will be developed in collaboration with a consortium of UK academic and industrial partners.
Contributors include the Open University, the Francis Crick Institute, Imperial College London, and the Natural History Museum.
The project builds on previous work by the Leicester team in developing an earlier prototype DWI
Extract Technology, based in Huddersfield, will serve as the industrial partner responsible for the detailed design and manufacture of the main isolator.
The company, part of the DEC Group, has longstanding expertise in the production of advanced isolator systems for the nuclear, pharmaceutical, and medical sectors, industries facing similarly stringent containment and cleanliness demands.
The project has recently passed a key System Requirements Review (SRR) with ESA, marking the completion of the first formal stage and clearing the way for the design phase.
The next steps will involve refining the concept into a detailed design and progressing towards the manufacture of a Qualification Model, which will simulate end-to-end curatorial and scientific processing of Martian analogue materials at Space Park Leicester.
The company, part of the DEC Group, has longstanding expertise in the production of advanced isolator systems for the nuclear, pharmaceutical, and medical sectors
Space Park Leicester is a £100m research and innovation facility in the East Midlands, specialising in space science, engineering, and Earth observation.
It operates as part of the University of Leicester and collaborates with a range of industry and research organisations on national and international space projects.
The DWI project, developed under the framework of ESA’s Mars Sample Return (MSR) programme, represents a significant UK contribution to planetary protection and the safe handling of materials from beyond Earth.
Andrew Cheney, DWI QM Project Manager at Space Park Leicester, said: “The SRR is a major milestone for the project that shows that we’ve fully understood the customer need, and translated that into a set of requirements to proceed with confidence into the design phase. Generating a good set of requirements is arguably the hardest part of any project and takes a lot of research, analysis and industry expertise. Now we have that agreed baseline, we look forward to the design phase and the many, many challenges it will bring for this unique piece of equipment.
“We have a relatively compressed period now to push a concept through to detail design and manufacture. The dedicated qualification phase will involve simulating end-to-end curatorial and scientific processing of martian analogue samples at SPL.”
John Holt, DWI QM Principal Investigator at Space Park Leicester, said: “Whether or not an astronaut or a robotic spacecraft brings samples back from Mars, the Double Walled Isolator (DWI) is a key UK technology that enables planetary scientists to scrutinise returned rocks to understand the martian environment and if there is microscopic evidence for life on the red planet.
"The milestone review [SRR] we have just conducted carefully looked at the complex needs of scientists to ensure we design an ultra-clean system that allows them to handle the precious samples and use a wide range of analytical techniques to unlock the secrets within each piece of rock. Out of this world projects are only possible with the right team and that is what we have here at Space Park Leicester, with our industry partner, Extract Technology, and scientific collaborators at the Open University, the Francis Crick Institute, Imperial College London and the Natural History Museum.”
Darren Hughes, Managing Director of Extract Technology, said: “I am delighted that DEC Group Extract Technology have been chosen as the partner of choice for Space Park Leicester in the design, development and manufacture of the DWI.
“Working in collaboration with world leading academics and scientific experts, as well as leveraging our decades of experience and knowledge in providing true end to end solutions in environments that require levels of extremely high containment.
“We are as equally proud that the final design will be built at our UK facility in Huddersfield, a testament to the skills and expertise within our business to enable us to deliver on such a prestigious project.”
Top image: The team
