It was the moment of truth this morning at 5:34 am. After seven years of work, students of the Gina-Cody IT school from Concordia University launched their Starsailor rocket from a base camp approximately 250 kilometers north of Mistissini, in northern Quebec.
More specifically, the creation of students members of the rusing division of the Concordia space club is the very first liquid fuel rocket built in the university environment to reach space.
It’s crazy
said student Shua Kalmanson by observing the smoke cloud caused by the separation of the unoccupied rocket 13 meters in length. No less than 700 students participated in the project.
According to its designers, Starsailor has the most powerful rocket engine created by students. According to them, it can reach a speed of more than 7000 kilometers an hour.
It is also the first space launch launched from Canadian soil in more than 25 years. And the very first from Quebec.
La Ligne de Karman
Students hoped that the Starsailor reaching space, beyond the Kármán line, located at an altitude of 100 kilometers. This line arbitrarily defines the separation between air and space.
However, the rocket separated earlier than expected, which potentially hampered its ascent. In fact, the engine only operated for 20 seconds instead of the 30 seconds planned.
Professor Hoi Dick NG of Concordia University indicates that the team will not know if the rocket really reached space after having recovered and analyzed the debris.
A welcome project
The mission is the fruit of a partnership between the ribbed division and members of the local screaming community. Pamela MacLeodmember of the Pistissini Council, told CBC that when she had the students’ demand to launch the rocket to Mistissini, she found this Strange, but interesting
.
It is something very different … There has never been anything like this in our territory. […] And at the same time, we really considered this as an opportunity for all the members of our community, our elders, to see something that it happens in our territory and to take part in it.
The launch of Friday was the third attempt of the team, after the cancellation of the first two launch dates due to unfavorable weather conditions.
With CBC information
