Research News
Start of the REXUS 10 research rocket at Kiruna (North Sweden). Photo: A. Lambert/ESA
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REXUS: Zero Gravity Student Research
Unfortunately, it won't be possible for some time to come for student teams from the Aachen University of Applied Sciences and the Technical University Dresden to be able to fly to the International Space Station. However, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) offers a different option of conducting zero gravity experiments. For this, though, the students had to travel to the secluded, wintry cold of North Sweden. On 16 November 2012, the REXUS 11 mission's research rocket brought the experiments to 79 kilometres altitude. During the subsequent two minutes free fall, the students' primed experiments proceed automatically.
For instance, the "CaRu" experiment by the TU Dresden's team applied a liquid to extremely absorbent paper within a pressure chamber. The questions: How does the liquid spread? Are there differences compared to its behaviour under gravity? A high-resolution camera recorded the experiment during the flight. After parachute-aided landing, the experiments were retrieved and returned to the rocket base, where the students immediately began with evaluating the data – one advantage compared to zero gravity experiments at the space station.
The German-Swedish early career researcher programme REXUS/BEXUS (Rocket/Balloon Experiments for University Students) allows students to gain practical experience in preparing and conducting aerospace projects. Each year, students can submit new suggestions for experiments at the DLR.
