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13 Feb 2014 |
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The Erasmus drop tower demonstrator is intended to promote the use of the full-sized drop tower facility at the ZARM scientific institute in Bremen, Germany. An external ESA facility since September 2003, the 146-metre ZARM drop tower provides 4.74 seconds of weightlessness %u2013 a figure which will be doubled from the beginning of next month using a catapult system at the base of the shaft. The facility is not purely an exhibit, scientists and students can also come here to ESTEC and gain first-hand experience of carrying out microgravity experiments. The drop tower demonstrator completes the picture of microgravity possibilities on display in the Erasmus Centre. As a functional model it will help to familiarise potential users with Europe's drop tower facilities. They can use the demonstrator to work on their ideas and prepare an experiment for the ZARM drop tower. |
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Students at work with a drop tower
Manchester Communication Academy students visited ESA/ESTEC in May 2013 to make use of the 1.5s 0g drop tower present in the Erasmus Visitor Centre. Having built the various pieces of hardware themselves to comply with the drop tower specifications and impact forces (up to 25g on impact), students investigated the effect of micro-gravity on water, icecubes floating on water, falling objects of similar size with different masses, bubbles in fizzy drinks and convection around a flame from a lighter. Great results were obtained for some experiments, others needed more tweaking. A wonderful educational experince for all students. |
