The message is the same across the globe: everyone needs to do their part and take help fight Covid-19. It can be staying at home, buying groceries for your grandparents or sharing fun quarantine stories so life doesn’t feel so mundane and isolated.
The space industry is no different and several companies have looked at how they can help fight the current pandemic. There are many initiatives out there, too many to mention, from SpaceX to astronauts on the ISS.
Here are a few that caught our eye:
1) SpaceX
Last week Elon Musk tweeted that he would be making changes in his production facility to produce ventilators for the health industry. Ventilators and masks are in high demand across the world. Hear more about Musk’s promise in the ‘Elon Musk Pod’.
2) Virgin Orbit
Virgin Orbit have announced that they have designed a mass-producible bridge ventilator. According to Via Satellite, Virgin Orbit are awaiting an approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and hope to start production in April from their manufacturing facility in Long Beach, California.
3) Astronaut Scott Kelly
Scott Kelly spent a year in space and has been sharing his stories and tips on how to cope with quarantine over the last few weeks. His tips center around organisation, schedule, physical activity and pacing yourself. You can read the full interview written by Scott himself at The New York Times.
4) ESA
The European Space Agency (ESA) has many business initiatives where they are dishing out cash to help start-ups and entrepreneurs get their ideas off the ground. In mid-March they announced that they are offering up to 500,000 € to a space enabled e-learning platform to help Italian citizens during Covid-19. Find out more on the ESA website.
