A TEENAGE physics student will see her idea blasted into space as part of a European research project.
Ioana Ciuca, who is in her first year at Durham University, is celebrating after her project to study laser welding in space was selected by the European Space Agency.
It means the 19-year-old will get the chance to put her project on the REXUS (Rocket-borne Experiments for University Students) rocket next year.
The REXUS programme allows students from universities and higher education colleges across Europe to carry out scientific and technological experiments on research rockets.
These rockets, sometimes known as sounding rockets, are instrument-carrying rockets designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during their sub-orbital flights. The project, to study the laser welding of metals in micro gravity, was chosen by a panel of experts at the ESA’s European Space Research and Technology Centre in the Netherlands.
Ioana, who came to Durham from Romania to develop her passion for cosmology, attended a week’s training course for the mission at the DLR German Aerospace Centre in Oberpfaffenhofen.
Paul Clark, from Durham University’s Centre for Advanced Instrumentation, said Ioana had triumphed over competition from physics students with far more experience.
“This is an outstanding achievement since most REXUS projects are submitted by postgraduate and post-doctoral students.
“Ioana is the only first year student among the successful project teams.
“At the project selection event, the ESA praised the team for their professionalism and enthusiasm – especially since they are at such an early point in their careers.
“I have been making instrumentation for international observatories for 15 years – Ioana’s team is taking on the same level of project in their first years at university. It is remarkable.”
Ioana has been supported with her project from a team of undergraduates from the Polytechnic University of Bucharest in Romania. As mankind establishes a foothold in space with the construction of the International Space Station, it is essential to establish how the properties of materials can change in micro gravity.
Ioana’s team is particularly interested in how the welding of strong, lightweight materials such as titanium alloys changes if they are welded in free-fall rather than under Earth’s gravity.
Ioana, who comes from near Bucharest in Romania, said: “It is fantastic to be able to study physics in beautiful Durham. The university has an excellent international reputation and it is wonderful to be here. I am grateful that the staff have been very supportive of our REXUS project too.”
Each year, the REXUS programme launches two rockets carrying up to a dozen experiments designed and built by student teams. The idea is to give them a taste of experimentation in aerospace technology, project teamwork and management.
