Students with space industry aspirations have been venturing to far west New South Wales to send their skills skyward.
While Artemis II was floating around in space, the University of Sydney's (USYD) student rocketry team took a 12-hour road journey to a sheep station between Mildura and Broken Hill.
They brought with them components for a sounding rocket named Galah.They had to meticulously reassemble it upon arrival, with the aim of sending it 10,000 feet (3,048 metres) in the air.
Students designed every component of the projectile, and the closer they got it to their target altitude, the better their performance was judged to be.
Outback rocket launching The USYD Rocketry Team has been going to Tolarno Station every Easter since 2022.
About 90 students spend months involved in a project where a rocket named after an Australian bird is designed, manufactured and tinkered with.
The squad also decides what altitude to target in feet, with previous teams having success reaching peak heights of 10,000 and 30,000 feet.
Project manager Michael Bogeholz said it was not only mechanical, aerospace and mechatronic engineering students who participated.
"We get people from all sample areas of the uni, from arts majors to science majors to computer science majors to help put this rocket together," Mr Bogeholz said.
"Not only do we have a technical side but we have an operations side which handles our finances, business, media and sponsorships." The university has a facility between Sydney and Canberra where the components designed each year can be tested, but nothing matches the thrill, adrenaline rush and tension of launch week in the outback.
The trek to Tolarno Station is about outcomes.
The propulsion, flight systems, payload, modelling and ground support teams launch the rocket twice in a week (weather permitting) to validate their hard work, and seek repeatable results.
Eyes on the skies The rocketry program has seen a shift in its participant credentials and leadership opportunities in recent years.
"In 2022 the majority of our team members were in their late years, third or fourth year, but as of now in our current project, a lot of members are in first, second and third year," Mr Bogeholz said.
Among those who have upskilled and taken on leadership opportunities is Lillie Mellin.
She is a fifth-year student, studying a Bachelor of Mechatronic Engineering and a Bachelor of Law.
She is the systems....
