{"id":4472,"date":"2024-04-16T16:17:34","date_gmt":"2024-04-16T14:17:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kosmos-os.de\/?p=4472"},"modified":"2025-11-17T09:50:36","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T08:50:36","slug":"wissenschaft-zum-anfassen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kosmos-os.de\/en\/wissenschaft-zum-anfassen\/","title":{"rendered":"Hands-on science"},"content":{"rendered":"

Visit to the drop tower at ZARM in Bremen and Universum\u00ae<\/sup><\/strong> Bremen on April 13, 2024<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n


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We at kosmos-os are fascinated by astronomy. In addition to direct observation, outside under a clear sky, we are of course interested in the entire range of topics related to the exploration of the cosmos.
So we came up with the idea of going to Bremen and visiting the drop tower at ZARM<\/a> (Zentrum f\u00fcr angewandte Raumfahrttechnologie und Mikrogravitation). The name alone promised something very interesting for us.
The name of the interactive Universum\u00ae Bremen museum also says it all and attracted us just as much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sieben von uns sind am 13.04.2024 um 8:00 Uhr morgens von Osnabr\u00fcck gemeinsam gestartet. Das Wetter war fr\u00fchlingshaft freundlich, die Autobahn frei. So stand einem ereignisreichen Tag nichts im Wege.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


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The ZARM and the drop tower<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our first destination was the drop tower of the Center for Applied Space Technology and Microgravity ZARM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


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We are curious to visit the drop tower (from left to right: Gerold, Werner, Thomas, Ulla, Reinhard, Achim, Michael)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n


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The ZARM is part of the University of Bremen and deals with fluid mechanics<\/a>, space science<\/a> and space technologies<\/a> and, through independent research groups, also with space exploration<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our visit started with a presentation of ZARM, in which the basic structure of the system and its components and the technology of the drop tower were explained. The interesting lecture was supplemented by vivid experiments and the opportunity to ask questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The centrepiece of ZARM is the drop tower, which was completed in 1990 and is unique in the world with a height of 146 metres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


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In front of the 146 m tower<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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The drop tower building, which is visible from the outside and has an outer diameter of eight meters, represents the envelopment of the actual drop tube, in which microgravity experiments are carried out. Microgravity is the state in which weightlessness is present and which is realized in the drop tube by free fall (in fact, 1 millionth (10-6<\/sup>) of the acceleration of gravity is reached) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a diameter of 3.5 meters and a length of 120 meters, the drop tube itself enables a free fall of the examination capsule of 110 meters, corresponding to 4.7 seconds in a state of microgravity during a fall experiment. In 2004, however, a catapult was installed in the base of the drop tower that accelerates the investigation capsule from below in such a way that it almost doubles the duration of the \"free fall\" \u2013 resulting in a weightlessness duration of 9.3 seconds in catapult experiments. However, the capsule, which weighs up to 500 kg and houses the experiments, would be slowed down in the drop tube by existing air molecules \u2013 a vacuum is needed. Therefore, before each drop experiment, the entire drop tube with a volume of 1700 m3 <\/sup>is evacuated and thus brought to a pressure of 10 Pa (0.1 mbar = medium (fine) vacuum). <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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This evacuation is carried out by 18 pumps and takes between 90 and 120 minutes. Thus, the evacuation of the drop tube is the most time-consuming factor in the execution of the experiments, which are thus limited to two to a maximum of three runs per day. The falling capsule is then caught at the base of the drop tube (brake chamber) by a 15 m3<\/sup> large 8.2 m high container filled with polysterene spheres. Since this brake container would be in the way when the catapult is used, the entire container must be swiveled to the side when the capsule is launched, but then brought directly under the tube within the flight time so that the capsule with its speeds of up to 168 km\/h is safely caught in the brake container. For this purpose, a pendulum system has been developed that makes this possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the presentation, we went past various experiment setups (also one to simulate a Mars base) to the GraviTower<\/a> (an additional smaller (16 m) drop tower, which works without vacuum and therefore allows up to 20 experiments\/h), through the integration hall into the brake chamber of the drop tower. The integration hall is used to equip the drop capsule with the corresponding experiments and was not allowed to be photographed for understandable reasons. In the brake hall, however, the technology could be \"grasped\" and photographed \u2013 we were all fascinated by the technology and the dimensions of this system!<\/p>\n\n\n\n


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Impressed glances up into the drop tube <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n


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The 120 m drop tube from below and the deceleration unit swivelled to the side<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n


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The sturdy outer shell of the drop tube<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n


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An experiment capsule next to the deceleration container<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n


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The queue for experiments in the drop tower is long \u2013 the tower is scheduled for two years in advance. Apparently, the study of phenomena under the conditions of microgravity is in demand in many areas \u2013 including: materials science, process engineering, fluid mechanics, but also biology, biotechnology and medicine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


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The Universum\u00ae Bremen<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The architecture of Universum\u00ae Bremen<\/a> alone is worth seeing. Viewed from the outside, the building depicts a whale rising from the water. Inside, you can marvel at and understand scientific phenomena from the fields of technology, man and nature at over 300 exhibits. Of course, you have to spend some mind energy on this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


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The impressive Universum Bremen building<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Although there was no explicit topic of astronomy, the points of contact were many. After all, astronomy has long since ceased to be astrology, but is deeply rooted in the natural sciences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A small selection of experiments\/exhibits related to astronomy:<\/p>\n\n\n\n


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