50 TIMES WE’VE DARED TO EXPLORE

For the YUAA’s first return to IREC, (having taken a gap year in 2015), the team managed to create a Sky Metagenomics payload to test the biodiversity of the earth’s atmosphere. The team earned a coveted 2nd Place in the SDL Payload Challenge (out of more than 50 international teams!). This program encompassed YUAA’s first foray into Biology and Genetics, yielding an incredible win in return.

The Optical Telescope was built from scratch by 12 members with little to no engineering experience. A prototype mirror of 3.5” and a final telescope mirror of 12” were constructed, and the first telescope was presented to K-12 students in New Haven.

The High-Performance UAV project concentrated on designing, constructing, and flying a fixed-wing uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) and ground station capable of receiving a live video and telemetry stream. High performance metrics included time aloft, maximum airspeed, distance flown, and adherence to the designed flight plan. These efforts aligned with the aerospace industry today, creating more sustainable, efficient, and environmentally sound air transportation methods.

The CubeSat team is designing and building a CubeSat that will carry a cosmic ray detector to measure high-energy electrons originating from the sun and outside the galaxy. The team will collect information on the density and count of these particles and make inferences to the energy of the particles. Commended at White House Astronomy Night 2015 ahead of its first meeting, the corner-stone project has inspired generations of Yale students to learn the values of long-term engineering in the march towards a 2024 NASA Handoff.