Our Mission
MARA (Mission for Asteroid Resource Acquisition) is an asteroid mining experiment created by students of LTU (Luleå University of Technology).
MARA aims to investigate the feasibility of core drilling as a method of material acquisition in reduced gravity while studying the thermal properties of asteroid drilling.
Realising this experiment includes producing a realistic asteroid simulant which can be drilled and extracted within the time constraints of the REXUS mission. It also includes designing, constructing, testing the drilling rig and analysing the results to provide insight into the
heat transfer, mechanical performance and scalability of the experiment for future asteroid mining technologies.
REXUS/BEXUS
MARA is a shortlisted project in the REXUS/BEXUS programme and aspires to fly on the RX37/38 sounding rocket in 2026.
REXUS/BEXUS is a student experiment programme financed by the Swedish National Space Agency and the German Aerospace Centre with support from the European Space Agency – ESA, the Swedish Space Corporation – SSC, ZARM and more.
Our Team
MARA is compromised by motivated and inspired students from LTU. The team is subdivided into 5 different sub-teams with varying focuses and areas of responsibility.
- Management Team
The project management team is responsible for the overall planning, coordination and execution of the MARA project. They ensure that all teams are aligned with the project goals and timelines while managing the MARA outreach programme and communication.
- Mechanical Team
The mechanical team focuses on the design, development and testing of the drilling rig and other mechanical components of the experiment. They need to ensure that the rig can be integrated into the REXUS filght module while meeting all mechanical and structural requirements of the MARA experiment.
- Electrical Team
The electrical team is responsible for the design and implementation of the electrical systems. This includes power management, sensors and data acquisition. The electrical team works closely with both the mechanical and software teams to ensure proper integration of all systems.
- Software Team
The software team develops the software required for data collection, control systems and communication with the experiment during the flight. They ensure that the software is reliable and that data is accurately recorded and saved.
- Science Team
The science team is in charge of defining the scientific objectives, designing experiment and testing protocols and analyzing the data collected during the mission. Science team members work closely with all other teams to ensure that the experiment meets its scientific goals.
Sponsors
The MARA project is made possible by the support of:
- Luleå University of Technology (LTU)
- Giron Space Organisation
If you are interested in MARA and want to contribute. Please reach out to us by the contact information listed below.
