How a Slice of Cheese Almost Derailed Europe's Most Important Rocket Test (interestingengineering.com)
(Sunday November 03, 2024 @09:38PM (EditorDavid)
from the milky-ways dept.)
- Reference: 0175388753
- News link: https://science.slashdot.org/story/24/11/03/2154228/how-a-slice-of-cheese-almost-derailed-europes-most-important-rocket-test
- Source link: https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/how-cheese-slice-almost-derailed-rocket-test
Long-time Slashdot reader [1]schwit1 shared [2]this report from the blog Interesting Engineering :
> A team of students made history this month by performing Europe's first rocket hop test.
>
> Those who have followed SpaceX's trajectory will know hop tests are a vital stepping stone for a reusable rocket program, as they allow engineers to test their rocket's landing capabilities.
>
> Impressively, no private company or space agency in Europe had ever performed a rocket hop test before. Essentially, a group of students performed one of the most important rocket tests in the history of European rocketry.
>
> However, the remarkable nature of [3]this story doesn't end there. Amazingly, the whole thing was almost derailed by a piece of cheese. A slice of Gruyère the team strapped to their rocket's landing legs almost caused the rocket to spin out of control.
>
> Thankfully, disaster was averted, and the historic hopper didn't end up as rocket de-Brie.
[1] https://slashdot.org/~schwit1
[2] https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/how-cheese-slice-almost-derailed-rocket-test
[3] https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/student-group-aces-europes-first-rocket-landing-test
> A team of students made history this month by performing Europe's first rocket hop test.
>
> Those who have followed SpaceX's trajectory will know hop tests are a vital stepping stone for a reusable rocket program, as they allow engineers to test their rocket's landing capabilities.
>
> Impressively, no private company or space agency in Europe had ever performed a rocket hop test before. Essentially, a group of students performed one of the most important rocket tests in the history of European rocketry.
>
> However, the remarkable nature of [3]this story doesn't end there. Amazingly, the whole thing was almost derailed by a piece of cheese. A slice of Gruyère the team strapped to their rocket's landing legs almost caused the rocket to spin out of control.
>
> Thankfully, disaster was averted, and the historic hopper didn't end up as rocket de-Brie.
[1] https://slashdot.org/~schwit1
[2] https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/how-cheese-slice-almost-derailed-rocket-test
[3] https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/student-group-aces-europes-first-rocket-landing-test
Alan Dean Foster wrote this (Score:2)
by Kobun ( 668169 )
Great, silly book called âoeCodgerspaceâ
Toldja the French are (Score:1)
by Tablizer ( 95088 )
...cheese eating space-monkeys!
Cheesy... (Score:3, Funny)
by gef7 ( 1789448 )
If this was not a cheesy slashdot article title, then what is?
What sort of barbarian could ... (Score:2)
by RockDoctor ( 15477 )
... confuse a
> A slice of GruyÃre ...
with any form of Brie?
Oh, wait - it's Slashdot. So it should be pointed out that neither of these are "sterilised", "pasteurised" or in the slightest bit "decontaiminated", but nice bacterially- and yeastily-laden forms of delicious rotten milk.
Where is my jug of fermented mare's milk when I feel the need?
Re: (Score:2)
by guacamole ( 24270 )
The was likely the French Rocketfort cheese.
It all makes sense now... (Score:2)
by dskoll ( 99328 )
So that giant British [1]cheese heist [www.cbc.ca] was actually a massive attempt to sabotage space programs the world over...
[1] https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/cheese-heist-uk-1.7366471
Spoiler (Score:5, Informative)
...The cheese created an aero effect that led to the rocket over spinning,” Marciacq explained to Interesting Engineering.
The clip of the hop test shows this to be the case. COLIBRI flew to its peak altitude. The rocket’s vector thrust control system then shifted its trajectory 30 meters southeast before it came down to land. As it lowered itself to its makeshift launch pad, COLIBRI rotated several times.
Thankfully, the rocket managed to remain stable and land safely. The Gruyère, a hard cheese, didn’t turn to fondue, but it was still edible, according to Marciacq.
Re: (Score:2)
Probably a silly student in joke. Also the cheese stands alone.
Re: (Score:2)
Probably to act as emergency parachute, or to test it's performance as a heat shield...
Re:Spoiler (Score:4, Funny)
> wtf, why was the cheese there?
Because everything is better with cheese.
Re: (Score:2)
winner
Re: (Score:2)
Gouda work! I can't brielieve that they managed to save it. I camembert another crash.