Alma da Agua : Airfield © Dinis Ribeiro and Richard Clar

Alma da Agua : Sounding Rocket Experiment © Dinis Ribeiro and Richard Clar

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

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

Alma da Água has already begun with the ongoing gathering of natural source water samples from all of the eight Portuguese-speaking countries. The individual water samples are to be carried into space aboard a Brazilian sounding rocket where the samples will be exposed to low gravity in order to mix the waters in a "new way" and in a "different environment". During the apogee of the sub-orbital flight, more than 100 kilometres high, already in outer space, as part of a new multi-cultural artistic ritual that will also take place on the ground simultaneously in all participating locations, the waters will be combined in a special way, assuming the shape of an ephemeral and fragile floating sphere. A video camera and downlink antenna integrated in the payload will provide live coverage of the birth and re-entry of the artefact that will be broadcasted simultaneously to all those viewing a dedicated television show. After an ocean splash down, the new "space water" will be recovered by helicopter and divided into eight equal samples to be returned to each departure point concluding a series of special cultural ceremonies in each of the participating countries.

These events will contribute to a greater awareness in Portuguese-speaking countries and the rest of the world, of 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 to apply 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 outcome of this initiative. The purpose of A.L.M.A network is to create conditions for a greater technical cooperation among communities using the Portuguese language by demonstrating new methods of water management using European space technology.

To enable the Alma da Água Space Awareness Initiative a novel and flexible management approach is being used. (More information on: http://www.chaordic.org)

Official Site: http://www.almadaagua.org
Richard Clar: rclar@arttechnologies.com
Dinis Ribeiro: port.space@ip.pt

Caption: Mock-up of Alma da Água payload. This initiative is being developed by Richard Clar from Art Technologies and several space companies under the coordination of Dinis A. Ribeiro from Companhia Espacial Portuguesa, Limitada.
Photo credit: Companhia Espacial Portuguesa Limitada