We are less behind than usual!

Everyone has been working eight hour days on the weekends in order to get the rocket ready for our most crucial pre-flight test. Engineering students Deenah Sanchez, John Marcozzi, and Dennis Ren can be seen working on the hydrogen fill line plumbing at all angles in the above time lapse. This Wednesday we will fill the fuel and oxidizer tanks with liquid nitrogen and watr as replacements, and then pressurize the system just as it would be for launch.

Once remotely pressurized, the system is ready for testing, and actuation of the main valve - pictured below - will release the nitrogen and water for mixture in the combustion chamber.

Some of the key things we are looking for in this test:

- tank fill times for the cryogenic side of the system are reasonable (should be the case with our higher pressure dewar)

- valve actuation is instantaneous and doesn't appear to be slowed by internal or external ice build up

- all the liquid is pressure fed out of the nozzle in the time we expected, which is reflective of our burn time