Following a successful flight in December, University of Central Florida research launched into space again today, this time thanks to the spaceflight company Blue Origin and NASA 麻豆精品 S檚 Flight Opportunities program.
The company 麻豆精品 S檚 New Shepard rocket launched from its facility in west Texas carrying research by UCF planetary scientists Joshua Colwell and Adrienne Dove.
麻豆精品 S淲e watched the flight on site from Blue Origin’s viewing area about two miles from the launch pad, 麻豆精品 S� said Colwell, who is director of UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 Center for Microgravity Research. 麻豆精品 S淚t was a beautiful, clear morning and an exhilarating experience. The landing is as exciting as liftoff. We are now eagerly awaiting return of our payloads. 麻豆精品 S�
The payloads should be available later today, Colwell said.
This is the second time Colwell and Dove have had an experiment fly on the New Shepard rocket, with the first liftoff occurring in 2016. The successful December experiment flew into space on Virgin Galactic 麻豆精品 S檚 VSS Unity craft. That launch, from Mojave Air and Space Port, in Mojave, California, marked Virgin Galactic 麻豆精品 S檚 first flight into space.
Colwell and Dove were both able to watch the flight from the west Texas site.
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麻豆精品 S淚 麻豆精品 S檓 so elated and relieved, 麻豆精品 S� Dove said. 麻豆精品 S淚t 麻豆精品 S檚 been a long time coming for this payload, and it was so gratifying to see the successful launch and landing. We 麻豆精品 S檙e still waiting to get the results back, so there 麻豆精品 S檚 still a little bit of nerves聽and anticipation, but it 麻豆精品 S檚 nice to know the vehicle behaved so flawlessly. 麻豆精品 S�
The New Shepard is capable of carrying hundreds of pounds of payloads to altitudes beyond 62 miles, also known as the Karman Line, the internationally recognized boundary of space.
One of the two experiments launched today is known as the Collection of Regolith Experiment, or CORE. It tested a device in microgravity that would be used for sampling regolith from a planetary body, such as an asteroid. Regolith is the loose, unconsolidated material on the surface of the moon, an asteroid or other object in space that doesn 麻豆精品 S檛 have an atmosphere.
麻豆精品 S淚t 麻豆精品 S檚 a plunger with a scooping mechanism that in microgravity is going to pop down into this simulated asteroid regolith, scoop up some, and pull it back, 麻豆精品 S� Colwell said. 麻豆精品 S淚t 麻豆精品 S檚 going to grab about a teaspoon full of the material. 麻豆精品 S�
Samples from asteroids could lead to new discoveries about the origins of life and the solar system as well as one day provide valuable metals as part of mining missions.
The other experiment, nicknamed C3BO by the team for COLLIDE-3-Blue Origin, performed three gentle-impact experiments onto a simulated asteroid surface to see how the material responds in a microgravity environment to help understand how to safely operate on the surfaces of small asteroids.
Colwell has now had seven experiments flown into space, including space shuttle flights and payloads to the International Space Station. Dove has had research fly on two Blue Orign flights, one on Virgin and two to the ISS.
The research was funded by NASA, UCF and Space Florida.
