Requirements
- The launch vehicle shall carry no less than 8.8 lbs. of payload.
- The payload(s) submitted for weigh-in shall not be inextricably connected to other launch vehicle associated components while being weighed
- Payloads shall not contain significant quantities of lead or other heavy metals. Additionally, payload shall not contain any hazardous materials that impact the health and safety of team members, staff, the general public, the convention center, or the launch site itself.
- Any functional scientific experiment or technology demonstration payload and its associated structure may be constructed in any form factor
- Teams whose functional payloads do adopt the Payload Cube Unit physical standard will be awarded bonus points in the IREC. To meet this requirement, a payload will have to fit completely in a Payload Cube Unit dispenser with nothing protruding or physically connecting outside
- The payload design may incorporate up to 2.25 lbs. of non-functional “boiler-plate” mass to meet the required mass minimum. This non-functional “boiler-plate mass must be weighed separately from the rest of the payload to ensure it does not exceed the allowed mass as specified above.
All requirements: https://www.soundingrocket.org/uploads/9/0/6/4/9064598/sa_cup_irec_rules_and_requirements_document_-2024_v1.4_20240304.pdf
Judging Criteria
- Scientific or Technical Objective(s) (400 points)
- How relevant and well-designed is your scientific or technical objective?
- Payload Construction and Overall Professionalism (200 points)
- Includes make/buy decisions, craftsmanship, material usage, poster, handouts, reports, etc.
- Readiness / Turnkey Operation (100 points)
- Will the payload interfere with launch operations? Will the payload operate after hours of launch preparation, rail time, heat, waiting for other launches, etc?
- Execution of Objective(s) (300 points)
- How well did it accomplish the objective(s)? Note that no report equals zero points and rocket failure results in 150 points (half credit – don’t know if payload would have worked or not)
SDL Payload Challenge Website: https://www.soundingrocket.org/sdl-payload-challenge.html
Research
09/22/24:
Cold Brew:
- Normally brewed overnight
- Regular cold brew is normally steeped for 10-12 hours
- Can be brewed faster under higher pressure
- Use a french press/aeropress method to compress the grounds
- Pressure of compression will be tested
- Will be brewed during launch and using room temperature water
- Will have a control group that will be brewed using regular cold brew methods on the ground
- Grounds
- Coarse
- Will be bought pre-grounded (from whatever company sponsors us)
09/15/24:
Prelim Payload Goals/Purpose:
Purpose:
Using the acceleration of the rocket to simulate a high gravity environment to complete an experiment in a unique setting that is hard to achieve under other circumstances
Yeast
- Paper: Microbial growth at hyperaccelerations up to 403,627 × g
- Baker’s yeast: Saccharomyces cerevisiae
- Super high acceleration (lowest in this study was 100 g)
- Less growth under high acceleration
- Some kind of sedimentation effect and concentration gradient in the cells
- Time scale of hours
- Paper: Effects of Low-Shear Modeled Microgravity on Cell Function, Gene Expression, and Phenotype in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
- We have more microgravity than high gravity, microgravity effects might be easier to measure
- Time scale of hours
Yeast is affected by changes in acceleration, but it seems that the time scale required is not realistic for our purposes (rocket launch to touchdown is on the order of 1 minute, the above papers study 10s and 100s of minutes)
Coffee
Materials of Experiment:
- Vessel
- Grounds
- Water
- Testing Equipment
Design Concerns and Considerations:
- Containment:
- Keep grounds + water in container
- Coffee says isolated
- Rocket Orientation/Descent
- Descent rate
- Orientation (upside down, sideways)
- Impact
- Can we continue to contain the experiment-
- Evaluation of Success:
- Semi-immediate results/data
- Heating/Water temp-