Waikato amateur rocket scientists hoping to soar at international competition
The Astronautics Club launched its rocket this weekend as they prepare to compete in Australia.
Photo:
University of Waikato
A group of amateur Waikato rocket scientists are heading to an international competition after a successful final practice launch of their creation 'Takahe'.
The rocket, built by the University of Waikato Astro-nautics Club, will go up against other creations in the out back of New South Wales in August as part of the Aussie Universities Rocketary Competition.
They're in the 10,000 feet category; the closer their rockets gets to that target height, the more points they score, so they don't want to go over or under.
Takahe, which comes from a long line of rockets named after flightless birds, has already been launched four times.
"This is our best rocket so far," University of Waikato Astronautics Club president Reuben Buckley told
Checkpoint.
"... Other then the fact it has flown more than our rockets, and most rockets that make it to this competition, the attention to detail on all the parts and how well its put together. The team spent endless hours working on Takahe and making sure that everything is exactly how it needs to be."
The 2.4 metre rocket will be joined by six students that make up the only team from New Zealand in the competition.
While Buckley could not reveal just how far the rocket is reached, he said it has gone a "fair way".
The team had their final lift off before the competition on the weekend.
"I got to press the button for the first time on Sunday. I was pretty nervous. Letting $23,000 fly into the air like that it's pretty nerve-wracking," Buckley said.
"... It's a spectacle every time."
The club has also got their eyes on a 30,000 feet competition in the US next year and are hoping for sponsors to help fund both their trips.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero
,
a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
8 hours ago
- RNZ News
Are smartphones extensions of our mind?
Rather than being cognitive extensions of our minds, our smartphones are parasites devices designed to steal our, money and data - says a team of Australian philosophers. A recent paper in the Australasian Journal of Philosophy argues smartphones pose unique societal risks to humanity - all while benefiting technology companies and advertisers. Rachael Brown Director is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Australian National University. She co-authored the research and says when viewed through the lens of evolution, our phones aren't much different to head lice, ticks, fleas and tapeworms. Photo:
RNZ News
15 hours ago
- RNZ News
Fieldays: Farmers expected to come on board as methane science advances
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at the Science for Farmers tent at Fieldays. Photo: Eloise Gibson The Prime Minister's new chief science adviser believes farmers will come around to technologies that cut their emissions. Some farming groups oppose inventions like methane vaccines, but John Roche says farmers will accept change once they see the products work. For a long time, one of the main concerns for farmers about tackling climate change was the lack of new technologies to lower emissions, without hurting productivity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon listen to a speech in the Farmers for Science tent. Photo: RNZ / Eloise Gibson Now emissions-cutting products are close to being launched, and some farmers are saying they don't want them. Groups such as Beef + Lamb say methane emissions shouldn't be priced because it would force farmers to use products such as methane vaccines and other technology when they shouldn't have to. Groundswell recently released a survey saying its members did not want to use methane-cutting products (called inhibitors) and didn't believe action on emissions should affect their access to overseas markets. Fonterra, by contrast, has signed up to reduce dairy emissions to secure what it says are higher value exports to customers such as Nestlé. Roche said although there was a noisy segment that still needed a little convincing he was confident most farmers will come round. "New Zealand farmers have always adopted technologies that improve their efficiency, that improve the saleability of their products," he said. "I think it will be the same here, and they will adopt the technologies as they come on board, as they become more affordable and importantly as they see other farmers use them and see that they work." Roche splits his time between his new role as Christopher Luxon's chief science adviser and being the chief science advisor for the Ministry for Primary Industries. John Roche has a split role. Photo: Supplied He helped arrange a tent called Science for Farmers at Fieldays, where farmers could speak to researchers working on scientific innovations, including emissions-cutting products. One stall housed rectangular planter boxes of lush pasture - not your typical ryegrass and clover, but diverse mixtures of up to seven species including the herb plantain. Danny Donaghy from Massey University said these pasture mixtures should better withstand droughts and/or floods, and contribute less to the problem of global heating by releasing less nitrous oxide from the soil and methane from the animals that eat them. Research funding group the Ag Emissions Centre was also there, sharing research showing dairy cow daughters inherit low-methane traits from their fathers. It said that paved the way for lower-methane breeding bulls from late 2026. Less advanced, but moving quickly, was Lucidome Bio's methane vaccine, currently being trialled in Palmerston North. Chief executive David Aitken said the company was aiming for a 20-30 percent reduction in methane from sheep and cattle lasting for about six months - and to have it on farms within five years. "The vaccine stimulates antibodies in the saliva of the ruminant. The antibodies are then transported into the rumen, where they bind onto the methanogens that produce methane, inhibit the growth and reduce the amount of methane." Over time the company hopes to get a productivity gain from the vaccine, since methanogens steal some of the animal's energy. "But at the minimum we are looking at a solution that's neutral on productivity so we get the climate benefits without losing profitability or productivity." At another stall in the tent, farm software company FarmIQ was explaining how its software can estimate changes in profits, production and emissions from changing various aspects of a farm. Chief executive Gavin McEwen said farmers can already reduce emissions by one to five percent through measures like using less nitrogen fertiliser and reducing stocking rates, often without sacrificing production. But bigger-hitting technologies are coming soon, like slow-release boluses that animals swallow to lower emissions. Head of sales Russell MacKay, a fifth generation farmer, says good financial times should help farmers buy new climate tech. "When the farmers are making money that means there more cash more money for fencing off waterways and bringing in new technology to help the environment."
RNZ News
2 days ago
- RNZ News
Fieldays spotlight: Christchurch start-up's sheepskin collagen powder
A Christchurch start-up is extracting proteins from sheepskin and processed them into a collagen powder for health and wellness products. Photo: RNZ / Kate Green A Christchurch biotechnology start-up is using sheepskins diverted from waste to create a world-first collagen powder for the booming health and wellness market. The company, Tertiary Extracts Ōtautahi, extracted protein from sheepskin to create its branded bioactive protein Ovitage that was then processed into a collagen powder and marketed in various health products. The company was up for an early-stage innovation award at this week's Fieldays event in Waikato against more than 30 others. Founder and chief science officer Dr Rob Kelly said the company developed the technology to isolate and extract valuable protein ingredients from the sheepskin and make it into the unique collagen powder. "The composition of our signature protein, which is ovitage collagen, is quite different to any collagen that's been made before," Kelly said. "The amino acid profile is really quite different. People haven't seen this before and the particular amino acids present leads to significant health benefits in areas that are in particular demand in New Zealand and overseas as well." Kelly, no stranger to research and development within the sheep sector, had links to the Wool Research Organisation of New Zealand (WRONZ), Keratec and Keraplast Technologies. He said Tertiary Extracts Ōtautahi sourced the sheepskin material from producers who only used sheep from New Zealand. "We have an abundance of sheepskin materials, between 6-7 million sheepskins are produced each year, and they currently don't have good uses," Kelly said. He said most skins were by-products of the red meat sector that were low value and cost producers to dispose of. "Sheepskin is an issue for the sector as a whole, and so we're really trying to present a whole-of-industry solution," he said. Tertiary Extracts Ōtautahi's head of research and development Dr Alisa Roddick Lanzilotta and chief scientist officer Dr Rob Kelly are behind the process to extract valuable proteins from sheepskin to create a collagen powder. Photo: SUPPLIED/Tertiary Extracts Ōtautahi Kelly said its Ovitage product targeted the health and wellness segment domestically in New Zealand and via export into the United States. He said bovine and marine made up the bulk of the $15 billion global market for collagen, and demand was continuing to grow. "We've put a lot of investment and science and research into the novel process that we've developed and we're really excited by the market opportunities and the export opportunities," Kelly said. Tertiary Extracts Otautahi will be in the Innovation Hub at Mystery Creek this week - ahead of the Innovation Awards ceremony on Thursday, and its product Everee Women could also be found in the health and wellbeing hub. On Friday, Kelly will also feature in the event's Tent Talks, on New Zealand's ability to turn scientific breakthroughs into globally competitive export businesses. The company was also a finalist for a technology innovation award at the Primary Industries NZ Awards in two week's time. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
