Our students’ project of space rocket has been classified in the top ten of the Mars Student Design Contest. In April, our team will fight for victory in the NASA Centre in California.
The International Inspiration Mars Student Design Contest was established by the American millionaire and first space tourist, Dennis Tito. It is addressed to young people from all over the world who have an idea how to build a rocket with the use of which a pair of astronauts will travel in the space just 250 km from the surface of Mars and get back to Earth after a flight lasting 501 days. The students’ task was to design a cheap and safe space vehicle for the astronauts. From among 38 projects, the jury chose 10 best, including the one designed by our students.
“I learned about our success today in the morning. The project of the rocket was made by a team composed of 8 people: Leszek Orzechowski (graduate of the Architecture field of study and team leader), Aleksander Tuzik (Mechatronics), Aleksander Grogolewski (Power Engineering), Radosław Groński and Dorota Budzyn (Control Engineering and Robotics), Konrad Cyprych (Wrocław University of Technology doctoral student), Olaf Kowalski (Systems Engineering), and me.” – says Szymon Gryś, a student of Mechanical Engineering and Machine Building.
The students made the project of an innovative rocket with the use of the existing space industry architecture. “We hit upon the idea that our rocket will not have a separate habitat, i.e. a room where the astronauts live. First, we will launch into the space a part of the spaceship with four engines and a huge fuel tank. The fuel will be used up during the launch and then the emptied fuel tank will be filled with air. The astronauts will then fly into the space in a capsule and move into the compartment. This solution made our project cheaper and safer than many solutions applied so far.” – explains Szymon Gryś.
The group of finalists from Wrocław University of Technology has been invited to the NASA Ames Research Centre in San Jose, California. There they will present their project once again to the jury, chosen from among the members of Mars Society, Inspiration Mars, and NASA. The winning team will obtain 10 thousand USD and the opportunity to present their project at the international conference “The Mars Society” in Huston, Texas. The teams that will take places 2-5 will receive 5 thousand USD each. Szymon Gryś emphasizes that victory in such a competition means not only money and prestige. “If we win, we will have great chance for an internship or employment at the best companies of the space industry. We will be able to make our dreams come true. We must succeed!” – says Gryś.
Małgorzata Jurkiewicz
Translation: Dariusz Więcławski
More information at: www.marssociety.org
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