A laboratory for materials research in reduced gravity has been opened at the University of Science and Technology (AGH) in Krakow. The specialised laboratory at the AGH Department of Civil Engineering and Resource Management is used to test, among other things, a variety of building materials, coarse- and fine-grained soils and materials that are analogues of the rocks covering the Earth and other rocky planets under conditions of reduced gravity.

Tests conducted in the laboratory aim to better understand the behaviour of the materials under study and to gain insight into the interaction between, for example, a lander and the surface of a small celestial body. 

Prof. Marek Cała, dean of the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Resource Management, emphasises that knowledge of how changing gravitational conditions affect the strength and deformation parameters of materials can bring important support in the future, e.g. when planning space exploration, both by unmanned probes and manned space vehicles, but also in disciplines such as materials engineering, space mining or construction.