Space drill flew into space. Success of students from Wroclaw
Students from Wroclaw fulfilled their scientific dream and sent a homemade space drill into space as part of the DREAM project. Young scientists’ experiment will be used to study the extraction of raw materials from asteroids.
Work on the drill had been going on for at least 1.5 years. They have led to sending equipment into space.The space drill was launched at an altitude of 86 kilometersóin and after about twoóch minutes wrócials to Earth. The operation went off without a hitchód. Now researchers will analyze the blood collected during próborehole in space data.
The originators of the DREAM (DRilling Experiment for Asteroid Mining) project are students of the Wroclaw University of Technology. The experiment collected data on the drilling process in microgravity conditions. The researchers wanted to find out how the temperature distribution in próThe students will know what the stresses are in the absence of gravity and how the pr itself will behaveóbka made of gypsum, in whichówhere the well was drilled. Well, and how does the excavated material, or material thatóry is excavated during drilling. This is the first analysis of its kind in the world.
The DREAM apparatus was lifted by a REXUS rocket from the Esrange spaceport in póNorthern Sweden. The launch was originally scheduled to take place on March 14, but was moved to the next day due to poor conditionsóin atmospheric.
REXUS/BEXUS program, under which theórego space drill flew into space, is organized by the European Space Agency (ESA) in cooperation withóThe Swedish National Council for the Prevention of Tumor Inflammation in the United States has called it a “new” problem. Space Agency (SNSB) and the German Space Agency. REXUS/BEXUS are skrót from Rocket/Balloon EXperiments for University Students, loosely translated: rocket and balloon experiments for studentsóin szkóhigher. Aboard a rocket or balloon, the experiment can be sent to an altitude of 80-90 kilometersów.
– Thanks to one of the cameras, we saw a moment thatórym we started drilling in the próbce and sighed with delight as the excavated material flew out of the drilled hole. It was clearly visible that we have a state of microgravity on board. However, I can already say that the results are very promising. We were the first to observe the drilling process in microgravity, and we already know that we have everything recorded and ready for further analysis – said project leader Dorota Budzyn. She also acknowledged that the team has several weeks of hard work ahead in analyzing the collected data.
This is the first experiment of its kind, whichóry examined the drilling process in microgravity conditions. The knowledge gained by the Wroclaw researchers can be used for the future development of space górnictwa. Large deposits of elements rare on earth can often be found in spaceów.