Alma da Agua: A Space Awareness Initiative

The launch of a commemorative sounding rocket carrying a payload of space art will herald the creation of the A.L.M.A network. A.L.M.A stands for "Agrupamento Lusófono Multidisciplinar da Água" (Water-Related Multidisciplinary Network). Initially, this will be a Portuguese-language network; later, as other European partners gradually link up, it will become a multi-lingual network, slowly expanding internationally [1].

The Alma da Água (Soul of Water) project will involve a wide variety of institutions within Portuguese-speaking communities. These communities are not only concentrated in the Portuguese-speaking countries (Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guiné-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe, and East Timor), but also are spread around the world, with considerable concentrations in France, South Africa and both coasts of the United States, with smaller groups in Canada, Asia and the rest of the world. The coordination efforts needed in order for the eight primary countries, which are in very different stages of development, to link together in a simultaneous international event will require the involvement of a number of groups, including the Portuguese Space Agency (AEPOR—Agência Espacial Portuguesa), which is currently being developed.

Alma da Água has already begun the process of gathering natural source-water samples from each of the eight Portuguese-speaking countries. These individual water samples are to be carried into space aboard a Brazilian sounding rocket, where they will be exposed to low gravity and thus be mixed in a new way and in a different environment (Fig. 1). During the apogee of the sub-orbital flight—more than 100 km high (already in outer space)—the waters will be combined in a highly symbolic gesture, assuming the shape of an ephemeral and fragile floating sphere, as part of a new multicultural artistic ritual.

Fig. 1.

Mock-up of Alma da Água payload.

© 2002 Richard Clar and Dinis Ribeiro

A video camera and downlink antenna integrated into the Alma da Água payload will provide live coverage of the birth and re-entry of the artifact; the event will simultaneously be broadcast to viewers of a dedicated television show. At the same time as the flight of the Alma da Água payload, cultural events on the ground will take place in the participating countries, celebrating their music, dance and poetry.

After an ocean splashdown of the sounding rocket nose cone, the new "space water" will be recovered by helicopter and divided into eight equal samples, to be returned to the departure points in each of the eight Portuguese-speaking countries. The return of the mixed "space water" samples to the eight countries will conclude with a series of special cultural ceremonies.

The purpose of the A.L.M.A network in general and these events in particular is to demonstrate to Portuguese-speaking countries and the rest of the world the role that space technology can have in water management, from flood control (using early-warning systems) to environmental control of water resources (using a network of low-cost sensors). The various possibilities for applying European space-technology transfer to improve life globally will be exemplified through a series of demonstrations. The creation of the permanent A.L.M.A network, using a dedicated computer network connecting the eight countries, is a key objective of this initiative.