Let's make space personal: Fatima Dyczynski at TEDxGroningen

Fatima Dyczynski was an Aerospace Engineering Master Student at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands in Europe. She was also a creative space enthusiast, motivated entrepreneur and world traveler. At TEDxGroningen 2013, she spoke of her ideas to bring space to individuals through the development of personal satellites.

Let's make space personal!

For you, and you, and you,
and you... and you!

It's easy!

Just connect with your mobile phone
to your own personal nano-satellite.

Simple. No big deal.

Living as we do in the 21st century,
we all have the mandate

of pushing the limitations of technology
and of scientific breakthrough

through the adjacent possible.

And that means that boundaries grow
as we explore them,

and this whole new possibility of space
opens new dimensions for us.

That's why we really have the idea
to instantly connect you all to space.

And we have identified the following
five key points of personalization,

because we believe

space and personalization
is really a human experience.

So number one:

You will have instant access
to your own nano-satellite.

Number two: You will have ownership
of the nano-satellite,

so it means you can buy it.

Number three: We image
an unprecedented large-area coverage.

Number four: The applications
that you will be able to access

will be related to your own personal life
and to your personal situation.

And perhaps the most important point
is number five:

That you will get motivation,
feelings, excitement,

as you can view the Earth from space.

And we believe that your mobile phone
is the key tool to connect to space,

so we have the model that the mobile phone
is your direct interface to space.

Or is there anyone in the audience
who does not have a mobile phone?

Okay, great! You all have mobile phones!

So you and the other
7.1 billion people on planet Earth

can all be connected to space.

Since in 2014,
the number of mobile phones

is supposed to exceed
the world's population,

because there's really
an explosion of mobile phones,

so that's really amazing.

That's why we have the plan
to make space personal for you,

to install a constellation
of 88 nano-satellites for Earth-imaging.

Actually, the conventional
satellites for communication

are the size of a school bus.

That's about a half of this room,

so you really see the difference
between that and this nano-satellite.

We believe that these nano-satellites
are the new sci-tech of space systems

that is enabled by the miniaturization
of micro-components

and also commercial
off-the-shelf components,

so we can use the components
in this phone in this 1:1 model.

Space is very close to us.

It starts at just 100 km,
that's where the Karman line is,

that is the boundary between
the Earth's atmosphere and outer space.

And this constellation will be operating
between 200 and 400 km altitude,

so that's quite low,
and actually very close to the Earth.

It will enable novel applications,
like augmented reality,

but also improve traditional applications,
like forest fire monitoring.

And I want to give you
a prototype application,

so for example, with the data
that the satellite generates,

we can make
a 3D temperature map of Australia,

and we can locally find the temperatures,
and once the temperature hits 300°C,

that's when wood starts to burst
into flames, so it looks like this,

an instant alert
can be sent to the fire brigade,

and they can see on their mobile phones

that they have to go and
extinguish the fire immediately.

But also you yourselves
can see on your phone:

The fire is there, it reaches this far:
Where are my loved ones?

Just three days ago,
I went to Perth, Western Australia,

and I heard that there was
this "Stormageddon" in the Netherlands,

this gigantic storm,

and I would have loved
to check on my phone:

was my car safe or
did some tree fall into it?

This could also be an application.

But the biggest possible application,
I believe, is augmented reality.

So you could imagine yourself virtually
present at the most exciting places.

So you could go on a safari,
or you could go mountaineering,

so you could imagine you could climb
the highest mountains virtually,

like Mount Everest.

And this is Patrick Hollingworth,
I met him in Australia just four days ago,

and he actually climbed Mount Everest.

And it would be of great value to make
a virtual climb before the real climb,

to prepare for the real expedition,

so that you can really
optimize your choices,

and are not immediately
on the border of life or death,

because the pressure on the mountain
is just one third of Earth atmosphere.

And that's why
this 88 nano-satellite constellation

will change your view of the Earth.

It will give you an executive power
to be present at any place at any time.

We have really confirmed this vision
with an astronaut,

so this is Leroy Chiao,
and he spent 229 days in space.

I met him at the International
Astronautical Congress three weeks ago,

this was in Beijing, in China,

and he wrote a personal message,
especially for this audience,

confirming this vision,

and he would like you to experience
the same as he did in space.

"The experience of space flight
is a life-changing event.

And the view of the Earth
from low-Earth orbit

is what leaves the biggest impression.

During one of my space walks,
I was facing straight down,

I had no view of the spacecraft.

So I felt like a satellite
flying over the Earth.

While I was watching
the continents and oceans roll by,

I was struck by the beauty
and peace instilled.

If all world leaders
could have this experience,

maybe we would have
less conflict on our planet."

This is my call today, to this audience,
to join the new race for space!

Thank you.

(Applause)