A rocket launch is jeopardized by a slice of cheese stuck in your leg

“Yes, it was indeed Gruyère and it almost caused a disaster!”

Crisis averted

During a major missile test, some students decided to pin some cheese on one of the ship’s landing legs and learned a crucial physics lesson.

How Interesting engineering reportsthe student-created Gruyère Space Program in Lausanne, Switzerland, beat the European Space Agency to conduct the region’s first “rocket jump” test in early October. During the test, the group’s CALIBRI rocket prototype rose vertically before falling back to land.

During the test, the team decided to attach a piece of Gruyère – just like their name – to the leg of the racket. But what was supposed to be a joke about one of their country’s best cheeses became no laughing matter when a piece almost caused a rocket to crash.

“Yes, it was indeed Gruyère and it almost caused a disaster!” said GSP president and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology student Jérémy Marciacq T.J. “The cheese created an aerodynamic effect that led to excessive spin of the rocket.”

How video of a historic event As it shows, CALIBRI actually begins to rotate after its descent, which occurred after the rocket reached its maximum height of 32 meters. Fortunately, the rocket landed safely with the stowaway intact.

While they didn’t go into detail about why the rocket was ejected, it appears that the extra weight of cheese on one of the rocket’s three legs weakened the ship’s stability.

Say cheese

Fascinating, said the student scientists T.J that the Swiss cheese in question wasn’t even completely melted by the rocket’s ultra-hot engines.

“It finally worked out and we ate it after the flight,” Marciacq said. “It was slightly warm, but still quite tasty!”

Cheese aside, what started as a college kids’ joke turned into a teachable moment for GSP.

“Ultimately, this allowed us to discover some limitations of our design, especially in terms of roll control,” the group’s president told the website.

Between beating the ESA and getting a tasty snack, it’s clear that Swiss students are on the right track.

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