The team have built their own portable version of a blast furnace, which reaches temperatures of up to 1200 °C. All it is is a chimney of bricks, charcoal, and iron ore, plus two leaf blowers to keep up a steady flow of air, and to make sure the charcoal burns hot enough to melt iron.
The team have made three attempts so far, learning and refining the process, and attempt number four is due to take place at the end of April 2020.
Find out more about the project here.
Photo credits: Richard Kraaijenhagen, for the Joint task force of SparkShack, RevSpace, and Hack42.
