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JU students win silver medal in University Physics Competition

JU students win silver medal in University Physics Competition

Three students from the JU Institute of Physics: Tomasz Szołdra, Paweł Matus and Jakub Czartowski, working under the supervision of Prof. Krzysztof Sacha won a silver medal in the University Physics Competition.

 

 

 

The online competition, which lasted for 48 hours, took place in November 2017 and the results were published in January 2018. The competitors included 265 teams from all over the world. Each team was asked to write their own paper on one of two proposed topics. The task usually involves solving a complex physical problem using computer simulations.

Tomasz Szołdra, Paweł Matus and Jakub Czartowski were faced with the task entitled “Solar Sailing to Mars”. The students had to design a spaceship capable of reaching Mars from the Earth thanks to a solar sail using solar radiation pressure.

“The probe was to be propelled and steered by a solar sail, which functions like a large mirror. When light is reflected by the surface of the sail, it puts pressure on it. The problem was about determining how to adjust the sail’s position during the flight in order to make the probe reach Mars without crashing. At the same time, it was necessary to find out what is the optimal size of the sail”, explains Tomasz Szołdra.

The teams from the JU Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science have taken part in the competition since 2012. In 2016 the team consisting of Piotr Staroń, Paweł Zalecki and Tomasz Szołdra also won the silver medal.

The trajectory of a probe equipped with a solar sale, going from the Earth to Mars. The changing angle of the sail relative to the Sun was calculated using optimisation techniques. The mass of the sail accounts for 70% of the mass of the entire probe. The final velocity during the “landing” on Mars is 9 km/s.

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