On Saturday, March 18th, the NSL team successfully completed the final test launch prior to the competition launch on Saturday, April 9th! For more information on the competition, including dates and location, see the event brochure. You can also tune into the live stream at Ustream on April 9th to see the launch remotely.
For this test launch, we continued to use a test payload, as our landing module isn’t quite ready for a full test yet. The rocket completed a successful ejection test prior to the launch (as pictured below), which tests the rocket’s ability to separate the sections with parachutes effectively using carefully measured black powder charges. The launch itself was a great success and we reached an apogee (maximum altitude) of 4,159 ft (1267 m), about 1,000 ft. (300 m) lower than our goal of 1.0 mile (1600 m). Photos and videos are below:
Click here for a video of the launch.
