The scientist from the Siberian State Industrial University (SibGIU) was the first in the world to develop a drilling and blasting technology for mining in the conditions of the Moon and Mars. Representatives of the project office of the national project “Science and Universities” told socialbites.ca about this.
The main idea of the developed technology is the use of natural cavities and caves on the surface of celestial bodies formed during the period of volcanic activity. To penetrate them, the scientist suggested using explosive checkers of the original design.
The classic TNT stick is a bulletless explosive device with a connector for connecting a detonator. Outwardly, it looks like a piece of laundry soap. However, it cannot be used on the Moon and Mars.
“We chose TNT because it does not self-explode on the Moon and Mars, and is easy to transport (lower impact sensitivity). However, TNT has one drawback – a low melting point, about 80 ° C. Therefore, it can melt in a vacuum (and a vacuum on the Moon) and then break down into molecules. Therefore, it was decided to create a shell around the TNT controller to prevent this,” he said.
According to the scientist, on the one hand, it should prevent the breakdown of TNT into molecules during melting, and on the other hand, it should not slow down the movement of gases formed during the explosion of TNT.
In addition, Kornev also developed a new cutter for drilling rocks on Earth, which turned out to be more efficient than serial analogues: it drilled faster and worked longer.
“We started the search for the optimal wing shape a few years ago. Together with his mentor, SibSIU scientist Leonid Dvornikov, we started with the idea to make a cutter of a certain shape that will pierce the entire circumference of the blade,” Korneev concluded.
According to the representatives of the project, the developed technology was proposed for the first time in the world and has no analogues. Kornev has already received a patent for the invention.
The development was implemented with the support of the national project “Science and Universities”.
Source: Gazeta
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