Queen's University

Published purpose

The Q-AISES Rocket team will compete in the NASA First Nations Launch (FNL) high powered rocketry competition, hosted by the Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium (WSGC). The team is comprised of Indigenous student members of the university’s chapter of AISES (American Indian Science and Engineering Society), which is an organization that encourages and supports Indigenous engagement with study and careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. This project offers the opportunity for Indigenous engineering and science students at Queen's University to become involved with a hands-on experiential learning project with tangible outcomes. Students come from a range of programs such as Engineering, Physics, Astrophysics, Computer Science, Health Science, Biology and Education. The team will be competing in the Mars challenge in which they will be designing, testing, and fabricating a rocket that will deploy a drone with a fabricated retractable payload at apogee. The drone will descend under parachute until it reaches 400 ft above ground level (AGL), whereat the drone parachute will release, and a TRUST-certified drone pilot will pilot the drone to a predetermined landing zone. The team also conducts educational outreach visits with Indigenous and Black youth to promote an interest in rocket science and STEM more broadly. During these visits, the team introduces rocketry through a hands-on experience, launching low-powered model rockets to 500 feet. This outreach also gives youth exposure to proximate-age Indigenous role models who are studying in STEM fields and accomplishing great things through their involvement with NASA's First Nations Launch.