Hey there, we’re team Percosat and our goal is to launch a Cansat by the end of October to test equipment and gather data. Currently our main objective is to transmit data collected by a gyro-meter, accelerometer, magnetometer, GPS, and barometer in 1 second intervals back to our ground setup via a WiFi signal. Our secondary objective was self made and we have decided to collect air samples to test CO2 emissions and to use a digital light sensor to collect data on the UV intensity during our descent. We decided to choose this as our secondary objective as New Zealand is very close to Antarctica and is therefore affected by the Ozone hole above it. This means that New Zealand is heavily exposed to direct UV rays from the sun which is dangerous as it could lead to skin cancers or severe sun burns. So we decided to detect the cause of Ozone depletion, CO2 emissions, and the intensity of the UV rays themselves to better understand the situation which could help further research in solving the issue at hand.
Our team used to be called team R.E.L.I.C and we had entered in last semesters Cubesat competition with idea of detecting and tracking space debris. This unfortunately was unsuccessful because the idea was out of reach as the equipment needed was either too big to fit into the Cubesat or was too expensive. However we had learnt a lot through the process of creating a PDS and then delivering a final presentation such as team communication and project management skills which all of us considered valuable in furthering our personal goals. So, we decided to stay together as a team and work on another part of the space program to continue gaining skills while learning new things. You can view the video we made for our Cubesat entry below: