The members of the MIT First Nations Launch team had never built a drone before when they faced the 2024 NASA First Nations Launch High-Power Rocket Competition. This year’s challenge invited teams to design, build, and launch a high-power rocket carrying a scientific payload that deploys mid-air and safely returns to the ground, integrating Indigenous methodologies.The eight-student team of all Indigenous students earned the compatition’s grand prize, as well as first place in the written portion.Deploying a drone from a rocketBuilding even the simplest drone demands precise calculations of weight,…
