At the Folie Technique event, three Oronos members – Christophe Leclerc, Executive Director and bachelor's student in aerospace engineering; Nicolas Kudeljan, Manager, Promotions and Sponsorships and bachelor's student in mechanical engineering; and Mehregan Dor, member of the Oronos aerospace department and bachelor's student in aerospace engineering – shared their experience in front of nearly 200 young campers from the Folie Technique science camp and members of the Polytechnique community. The crowd got to learn more about the competition, see striking photos taken at the event, and watch a breathtaking video showing the lift-offs from various angles, along with a very impressive video taken from a camera on board the Zéphyr MKII.

The objective of the competition is to propel a rocket equipped with a scientific payload to an altitude of 10,000 feet (3,050 metres) with the greatest possible precision. Zéphyr MKII, the rocket entered by Oronos Polytechnique, reached an altitude of 10,211 feet (3,112 metres), beating out 14 rockets designed by teams from Brazil, Canada, the United States, India and Turkey. It was a resounding victory for Polytechnique students, considering that until 2012, not a single non-U.S. team had yet succeeded in making it to first place in the renowned competition!

Still, the Polytechnique students didn't have it easy this year. The company hired to transport their equipment from Montréal to Utah lost a package containing the team's tools and a number of internal parts for the rocket. However, thanks to the support and collaboration of the Montréal RockÉTS team from École de Technologie Supérieure, the members of Oronos Polytechnique managed to find alternative solutions and get their rockets launched at the appropriate time. The ÉTS students themselves did very well also – they came in second! A great showing for Montréal aerospace engineering!

Oronos Polytechnique

Nearly 150 campers attended the event.

Young campers admire the prototypes up close.

About Zéphyr MKII
Zéphyr MKII is a modified version of Zéphyr, the winning rocket that Polytechnique entered into the IREC in 2012. Zéphyr MKII is 3.3 metres long, weighs 30 kilograms and took nearly 6,000 hours to build. At the competition, Zéphyr MKII was carrying on board a new diagnostics system to ensure that all the rocket's internal systems were functional and that every step of the flight would go off as planned. The information was conveyed in real time to a ground station.

About Perséus
The bold students of Polytechnique entered a second rocket in the 2013 IREC competition. As the Oronos team's first supersonic rocket and the first rocket of its kind to be entered into the competition, Perséus had to fly at a maximum speed of 1,800 km/h and reach a target altitude of 25,000 feet (7,620 metres)! It carried several science experiments on board, including sensors to measure atmospheric conditions on the outside of the rocket. Unfortunately, Perséus disintegrated when it broke the sound barrier, as sometimes happens with prototypes in the competition. Some parts, including the onboard electronics, were able to be salvaged.

About Oronos Polytechnique
Oronos Polytechnique was founded in May 2010 and now includes more than 35 bachelor's-level members from five engineering disciplines. The committee's objective is to design innovative prototypes to take part in university competitions, and as such to share their passion for aerospace and astronautics with the public. Oronos allows students to apply the concepts they learn in class in a competitive environment. The team now has 14 launches and nine prototypes to its credit. It has also begun testing on a new hybrid propulsion system entirely created by its members.

Congratulations to the whole team!

See also:
Video shot at the competition
Photo album
Oronos Polytechnique website
Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition website