Pink Freyr’s mission was to investigate the use of rockets for the purpose of cloud seeding. Cloud seeding is a method used to increase precipitation from clouds by introducing hygroscopic particles, such as salts, that act as nuclei for droplets to form. This technology is being used in farmland, arid regions, and mountaintops where more water is desired in order to sustain crops.
The system designed by team Pink Freyr utilised a gravity-fed salt deployment module that would invert after parachute deployment, allowing the salt particles to fall out into the atmosphere. Various sensors, including a GPS module, were installed to monitor the progress of the rocket, including a transceiver that communicated to a ground station built by the team.
With a successful launch, deployment, and recovery, Pink Freyr is proud to have produced a robust and reusable rocket. Unfortunately on the day of launch, the power supply to the electronics had a faulty connection resulting in patchy data recovery. It is advised that robust testing of future NRC teams’ rocket circuitry is done to avoid similar mishaps!