The experimental rocket Aurora, constructed by PWr In Space, took 2nd place in the worldwide Spaceport America Cup 2023 competition in the category of hybrid rockets designed for flight at an altitude of 10,000 feet. Students of the M3 scientific circle, operating at WEFiM, in particular Eng. Mateusz Gumieniak and Eng. Maciej Dzimira, were responsible for the construction of the payload, implementing a biological experiment on board of the rocket. The experiment concerned the process of liquid mixing induced by the inertial force generated during the rocket launch, using a passive fluidic micro-mixer and an optical detection system realizing the measurement of sample absorption. This work was simultaneously carried out as a thesis under the supervision of Ms. Agnieszka Krakos, PhD.
The competition took place in the United States, in the state of New Mexico on 19.06.2023 - 24.06.2023.
