High-Level Project Summary
Our challenge is to create a vehicle to bring an earth-like extraterrestrial being to Earth, specifically getting it out of the host planet's atmosphere. One objective is to make sure the rocket doesn't get destroyed. Second, we need to make sure the creature survives. To do this we created a rocket which has insulators on the outside and a layer of lead to block radiation. We also developed a 3D model of the rocket and drawings of the flooer. It solves the problem because temperature will stay stable and there won't be much radiation. The impact is that it can help predict future species and the environment on Earth and help develop the definition of life in general, not just on Earth.
Link to Project "Demo"
Link to Final Project
Detailed Project Description
Our spacecraft is a vehicle to transport an extraterrestrial animal from the planet's surface to outside the atmosphere. The spacecraft has a spray-on foam coating and cork to insulate it. Inside, there is a 2 foot thick layer of lead to block incoming radiation. There is an inner sphere where the animal is kept, lined with substances found on the host planet to ensure its survival, and the sphere is lined with xenon as a unreactive, protective barrier. We hope that it will be able to successfully bring a non-Earth animal out of its atmosphere after further development. The benefits of this are that it can boost our understanding of life in general, and maybe pave the way for artificial life, made by humans. We used Blender to create the 3D rendering of the rocket and a 3D printer to create a physical model.
Space Agency Data
We used NASA space agency data on insulators for spacecraft going out of Earth. This inspired us to use similar materials for insulation of our spacecraft that will launch from another Earth-like planet.
Hackathon Journey
It was an amazing experience to get to work with other peers and use teamwork to create our project. I learned what types of materials are used for rockets, and my team members learned how to use 3D modeling/simulation tools to simulate the spacecraft. Our approach was diving right in to the creation of the model and researching, and then bringing everything together for an awesome project. One setback was that we didn't have the means to test the model under atmospheric conditions but we overcame that by creating a simple model and then predicting what will probably happen based on research. I would like to thank the organizers of this project because despite it being my first hackathon, it was truly fun and exciting!
References
Tags
#spaceship, #art, #spacecraft, #life