bta.bg
On Cosmonautics Day - April 12, a ceremony will be held to open the Student Design Bureau (SDB) at the "Aero-space Engineering and Technologies" laboratory, which is part of the "Air Transport" department at the Technical University (TU) - Sofia, the university team announced.
The event will take place in the fully renovated offices 10-503A and 10-503B, block 10, at TU-Sofia, and will be opened by Assoc. Prof. Vladimir Serbezov - head of the "Air Transport" department at TU-Sofia.
During the ceremony, a test model of an artificial Earth satellite developed in the SDB will be presented. The plan is for the satellite to be sent to low Earth orbit in 2026.
The test model of the artificial satellite was manufactured by student Zahari Zlatkov as part of his master's thesis under the scientific supervision of Asst. Dr. Eng. Nedislav Veselinov.
The goal of the project is to prove that domes constructed using polymer composite materials reinforced with carbon fabric can serve for building habitable and production facilities on the surface of the Moon or other celestial bodies in the Solar System.
"This is our contribution to the development of space technologies in Bulgaria. Here is what it is about, briefly: the conceptual ideas for habitats on non-Earth bodies to date have been based on spherical structures. We propose that these habitats not be inflatable balloon-like structures, but be made of polymer composite materials based on carbon, fiberglass - reinforcing layers to strengthen the package. Our idea is to track at what speed air escapes from the satellite and to prove that these structures can be used to build habitats. The epoxy resin and reinforcing fabric are very compact, which will allow habitats to be made on-site on non-Earth bodies," Dr. Nedislav Veselinov told the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency.
Eng. Nedislav Veselinov is the founder of the Experimental Design Bureau "Photonics". In 2019, he won the "Entrepreneur in Science" award from the "Carol Knowledge" Foundation. The project with which he and his young colleague designers won the entrepreneurship competition four years ago is now an operational planetarium - on November 25, 2022, it opened its doors to visitors at the Regional Center for Contemporary Arts "Toplocentrala" in Sofia.
Is there a universal meaning to this type of projects for habitats on celestial bodies, or is it just a scientific whim, asks Eng. Veselinov. "There is meaning, because on the Moon, for example, there are many useful resources, the main of which is called helium-3 (He-3), an isotope of helium that can be used in nuclear fusion. This is a source of ready-made fuel for nuclear fusion and leads to a much more energetic and environmentally friendly energy production process (accidents with heavy pollution cannot occur). Thus, one day there could be mutually beneficial trade between Earth and celestial bodies," explained Eng. Veselinov.
The renovation and equipping of the LRC, as well as the project of TU - Sofia for the creation of the satellite, were funded by Bulgarian private companies from the high-tech sector and partners of the department. "The main sponsor of the initiative is the Bulgarian aviation manufacturer "Niki Rotor Aviation" represented by Nikolay Nikolov and Miglena Nikolova, who covered the costs of the overall renovation of the premises and their equipment with computer technology. The additional equipping of the halls also received serious sponsorship support, obtained from Telelink Bulgaria represented by Ivo Russev; Cisco Systems Bulgaria - represented by Plamen Zhechev; Aerotechnik Bulgaria - represented by Sergey Kumanov; Experimental Design Bureau "Photonics" - represented by Nedislav Veselinov, as well as from TU-Sofia – Department "Air Transport" represented by Assoc. Prof. Vladimir Serbezov", noted the TU - Sofia team.
bta.bg. 03.04.2024
On Cosmonautics Day - April 12, a ceremony will be held to open the Student Design Bureau (SDB) at the "Aero-space Engineering and Technologies" laboratory, which is part of the "Air Transport" department at the Technical University (TU) - Sofia, the university team announced.
The event will take place in the fully renovated offices 10-503A and 10-503B, block 10, at TU-Sofia, and will be opened by Assoc. Prof. Vladimir Serbezov - head of the "Air Transport" department at TU-Sofia.
During the ceremony, a test model of an artificial Earth satellite developed in the SDB will be presented. The plan is for the satellite to be sent to low Earth orbit in 2026.
The test model of the artificial satellite was manufactured by student Zahari Zlatkov as part of his master's thesis under the scientific supervision of Asst. Dr. Eng. Nedislav Veselinov.
The goal of the project is to prove that domes constructed using polymer composite materials reinforced with carbon fabric can serve for building habitable and production facilities on the surface of the Moon or other celestial bodies in the Solar System.
"This is our contribution to the development of space technologies in Bulgaria. Here is what it is about, briefly: the conceptual ideas for habitats on non-Earth bodies to date have been based on spherical structures. We propose that these habitats not be inflatable balloon-like structures, but be made of polymer composite materials based on carbon, fiberglass - reinforcing layers to strengthen the package. Our idea is to track at what speed air escapes from the satellite and to prove that these structures can be used to build habitats. The epoxy resin and reinforcing fabric are very compact, which will allow habitats to be made on-site on non-Earth bodies," Dr. Nedislav Veselinov told the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency.
Eng. Nedislav Veselinov is the founder of the Experimental Design Bureau "Photonics". In 2019, he won the "Entrepreneur in Science" award from the "Carol Knowledge" Foundation. The project with which he and his young colleague designers won the entrepreneurship competition four years ago is now an operational planetarium - on November 25, 2022, it opened its doors to visitors at the Regional Center for Contemporary Arts "Toplocentrala" in Sofia.
Is there a universal meaning to this type of projects for habitats on celestial bodies, or is it just a scientific whim, asks Eng. Veselinov. "There is meaning, because on the Moon, for example, there are many useful resources, the main of which is called helium-3 (He-3), an isotope of helium that can be used in nuclear fusion. This is a source of ready-made fuel for nuclear fusion and leads to a much more energetic and environmentally friendly energy production process (accidents with heavy pollution cannot occur). Thus, one day there could be mutually beneficial trade between Earth and celestial bodies," explained Eng. Veselinov.
The renovation and equipping of the LRC, as well as the project of TU - Sofia for the creation of the satellite, were funded by Bulgarian private companies from the high-tech sector and partners of the department. "The main sponsor of the initiative is the Bulgarian aviation manufacturer "Niki Rotor Aviation" represented by Nikolay Nikolov and Miglena Nikolova, who covered the costs of the overall renovation of the premises and their equipment with computer technology. The additional equipping of the halls also received serious sponsorship support, obtained from Telelink Bulgaria represented by Ivo Russev; Cisco Systems Bulgaria - represented by Plamen Zhechev; Aerotechnik Bulgaria - represented by Sergey Kumanov; Experimental Design Bureau "Photonics" - represented by Nedislav Veselinov, as well as from TU-Sofia – Department "Air Transport" represented by Assoc. Prof. Vladimir Serbezov", noted the TU - Sofia team.
bta.bg. 03.04.2024
