Aussie researchers test new tech in zero-gravity to make space fuel
Three lucky Australian students took to skies with researchers this week, helping test technology that could one day help us make produce fuel in space
READING LEVEL: ORANGE
Australian researchers took to the skies this week aboard the first zero-gravity flights, testing technology that could one day produce fuel and other chemicals from resources on Mars and the moon.
The University of Western Australia’s International Space Centre team is leading Australia’s first ever zero-gravity experiment.
The tests were carried out in Bordeaux*, France, where researchers along with student interns participated in three flights aboard zero-gravity plane Novespace Airbus A310.
Novespace has one of the world’s “largest civilian microgravity* research platforms”, according to the Australian Space Agency.
The research’s scientific lead, Professor Hongqi Sun, said testing conditions could not be replicated* within standard laboratory environments.
“We want to understand what changes when gravity is taken out of the equation,” Prof Sun said.
“That knowledge could help us develop ways to use resources available on other worlds, while also improving chemical processes here on Earth.”
Researchers took 93 parabolic* paths where they experienced changing levels of gravity. Each flight gave them about 30 seconds of zero gravity. They were able to study how gravity affects a light-driven chemical reaction.
The technology uses sunlight to change methane* and carbon dioxide* gases into syngas*, which is a mixture that is used to make fuels and chemicals.
STUDENTS ON-BOARD
Three students had the rare chance of joining researchers aboard the flights and getting hands-on experience in zero-gravity experiments.
Caroline Berg from University of Melbourne, Finley Wallace from University of NSW, and Laura Stokes from University of Western Australia won the national undergraduate competition.
International Space Centre Director Professor Danail Obreschkow said the students were an important part of the research experiment.
“For these interns, that means working alongside researchers and taking an experiment from the laboratory into weightlessness,” Prof Obreschkow said. “We hope their experience encourages many more students to explore where science and engineering can take them.”
The French Space Agency shared these flights with the Australian team, because the tests were run in partnership between the university and Novespace, which is part of the French National Centre for Space Studies.
FOUR ASTRONAUTS RETURN TO EARTH
The historic tests in France come as four astronauts safely returned to Earth on Friday (AEST) after eight months in space.
They had rushed to space in February to replace NASA’s Mike Fincke and his crew after Fincke fell ill and had to be evacuated*. It was the first medical evacuation* in NASA’s 65 years of human spaceflight.
Two American astronauts, Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, along with their French colleague, Sophie Adenot, and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, were brought back by Space X.
They landed in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California, USA, and were keen to see their families after spending most of the year in space.
NASA’s Jessica Meir told the Associated Press that they were “excited to be back on planet Earth”.
AP reported that Ms Meir and her crew had “a lot of mixed, swirling emotions” and said the “extraordinary views of our home planet,” would be missed.
Seven other astronauts remain at the International Space Station.
As the second space age rapidly develops and manned missions become more commonplace, the Australian fuel project seems especially timely, as meeting future fuel needs looks set to become an extraterrestrial* concern.
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GLOSSARY
- Bordeaux: a city in southwestern France, Europe
- civilian: ordinary person outside of professional and legal roles, in this case, a person who is not an astronaut
- microgravity: a state in which things and people appear to be weightless and may float
- replicated: to make something again in the exact same way, to copy something the exact same way
- parabolic flight: it is when an aircraft flies along a large arc-shaped path (a parabola), to reduce gravity for a few seconds
- methane: a colourless chemical compound made of one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms
- carbon dioxide: another invisible colourless gas made of one carbon atom and two oxygen atoms
- syngas: it is a fuel gas mixture made of hydrogen and carbon monoxide that has carbon dioxide and methane
- evacuated: moving people or animals away from a dangerous area or situation to a safe location where they can be safe, or get the help that they need
- medical evacuation: transporting or moving injured or ill patients to a medical facility
- extraterrestrial: things or life forms from space, like asteroids, space dust, or hypothetical aliens
EXTRA READING
Strange Shape found over Saturn
Robots may mine moon ‘gold rush’
QUICK QUIZ
- Why did the four astronauts had to rush to the space this year?
- How many students went aboard zero-gravity flight?
- What are two gases that can help produce fuel?
- How many astronauts are in space now?
- Why did Australian researches need the gravity-free flights?
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CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Is a career in space for you?
Drawing on information from the news story and your own ideas, create a table listing the advantages and disadvantages of having a career as an astronaut or cosmonaut. Consider the challenges, risks and rewards of working in space.
Would you enjoy being an astronaut or cosmonaut? Do you think you would be suited to this career? Explain your answer, giving reasons to support your opinion.
Time: allow 25 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English; Science
2. Extension
The news story describes research into making fuel and chemicals from resources found on the Moon or Mars, but it doesn’t fully explain why this might be useful. Write a paragraph to explain what reasons you think humans might have to want or need to use resources from the moon or Mars.
Time: allow 15 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English; Science
VCOP ACTIVITY
Read with Kung Fu punctuation
Pair up with the article between you and stand up to make it easy to demonstrate your Kung Fu punctuation.
Practise reading one sentence at a time. Now read it again, while acting out the punctuation as you read.
Read and act three sentences before swapping with your partner.
Take two turns each.
Now ask your partner to read a sentence out loud while you try and act out the punctuation. Can you keep up? Swap over?
Try acting out two sentences – are you laughing yet?