Three Decades of Space Activities at the Instituto Universitario de Microgravedad "Ignacio Da Riva"/Universidad Politecnica de Madrid (IDR/UPM)

Strictly speaking, space-related activities at the Escuela Tecnica Superior de Ingenieros Aeronauticos (ETSIA) began in 1973, when Professor Ignacio Da Riva got a contract from the European Space Agency (ESA), to compile a handbook on spacecraft thermal control. At the same time, ESA issued an announcement of opportunity, offering the European scientific community the possibility of performing microgravity experiments onboard space platforms, like the European orbital laboratory, Spacelab. Da Riva proposed one of the few selected experiments dealing with fluid physics under microgravity conditions, later flown on the Spacelab-1 mission in 1983. These two events were the starting point where Da Riva, full professor of aerodynamics at ETSIA, nucleated a small group of young professors and students located at the Laboratorio de Aerodinamica y Mecanica de Fluidos (LAMF) of ETSIA. The group was led by Da Riva from its creation until 1991, when Da Riva died, and it was the seed of the more recently created research institute for aerospace science and technology, named Ignacio Da Riva (IDR) in his honor. In this communication, space-related activities performed either at LAMF or IDR during the last three decades are briefly described.