P.H.I.L.E.A.S.
The Project for High altitude Identification of Lightweight Exogenic Airborne Specimens (P.H.I.L.E.A.S.) is a mission to prove the propagation of microplastic particles through Earth’s atmosphere. Samples of the surrounding air shall be taken in both the Tropo- as well as the Stratosphere and analysed for the existence and abundance of microplastics.
This is the P.H.I.L.E.A.S. Experiment
P.H.I.L.E.A.S.
is an experiment that aims to detect and analyse microplastic particles in high atmospheric layers to improve and validate mathematical models on the pollutants’ dispersion characteristics.
The experiment adapts the concept of an active particle collector used for ground-based observations to a deployment on a high-altitude balloon, utilizing a vacuum pump to feed ambient air through membranes designed for particle capture. This adaptation to a balloon-based experiment that operates in a low-pressure environment allows for in-situ capture and analysis of particles at different altitudes. The electronic and software systems are based on the modular “MOVE Beyond” satellite bus developed by students of the Scientific Workgroup for Rocketry and Spaceflight (WARR).
The collected particles will be counted and the membranes imaged during flight for an in-situ measurement. Further, the samples will be thoroughly analysed after the experiment’s recovery to gain knowledge on the particle’s geometry and chemical composition.
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P.h.i.l.e.a.s. is part of the Bexus program
Balloon Experiments for University Students
The REXUS/BEXUS programme is realised under a bilateral Agency Agreement between the
German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the Swedish National Space Agency (SNSA). The
Swedish share of the payload has been made available to students from other European
countries through a collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA). EuroLaunch, a
cooperation between the Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) and the Mobile Rocket Base
(MORABA) of DLR, is responsible for the campaign management and operations of the launch vehicles. Experts from DLR, SSC, ZARM and ESA provide technical support to the student teams throughout the project. REXUS and BEXUS are launched from SSC, Esrange Space Center in northern Sweden.
Meet the Team
We are a team of currently seven students at the Technical University of Munich trying to make the first microplastic measurement in our Stratosphere
Jakob Breternitz
Friedrich Kempen
Niklas Binder
Marlon Michel
Johannes Kynast Badilla
Jakob Bertelsmann
Maximilian Krause
Get in Contact with us!
More comming soon!
