Hey everyone! We've got some news to share with all of you. Last Saturday, some of our members traveled down to Virginia to launch our full scale rocket for the last time before the competition finals in Huntsville, AL. We had two very successful ground tests for our ejection charges, but when it was time to launch, we had some problems. Our rocket did not have the proper motor retention hardware, and the motor went through the fin can. Fortunately, no severe damage was done to the rocket---it was completely recoverable. However, this does mean that we will not be launching in Alabama this year. The funds that we were able to raise this year will be saved for next year's team. So for the next few weeks the team will be repairing the rocket for a launch in mid-April to show off all of our hard work!

We would like to thank everyone who supported us over the last year. We could not have gotten this far without your support. It was a huge learning experience that has heightened our knowledge in model rocketry and engineering, and has given us insight on how to be a more effective team for next year.

The parts for the full scale rocket have arrived! We will be building our final rocket throughout this week, and we can't wait to share some more behind the scenes photos along the way. We can't thank you enough for all the support you have given us. In addition to building our full scale rocket, we are still a very long way from reaching our Minute Fund goal. The money that we need to raise will cover the cost of traveling down to Huntsville, Alabama and the hotel for the duration of the competition. While in Huntsville, our rocket will be reviewed by a board of NASA engineers and safety specialist, the team will present our year long project to other universities around the nation, and we even get to tour the Marshall Space Flight Center! And on the last day of the competition, we will get to launch our rocket. Please help spread the word about the team. Exciting times are coming, and we hope that you will continue along this journey with us! 

Great news everyone: This past Saturday, we went up to Berwick, Maine to launch the subscale of our rocket. We sort of had a rough start by not having all of our subscale parts delivered on time, so we did what engineers do best---engineer! We ended up using parts from last year's subscale and combined it with the new parts that we did have, creating a "Frankenstein" rocket. We were also able to do a proof of concept of our flywheel design to make the rocket spin. You can even see it spin in the video! The rocket flew beautifully and everyone had an amazing time (despite the cold wind)!  

Thank you so much for all of the support so far, but this is only the beginning. The next stop is writing the Critical Design Review, and hopefully getting an early start on the full scale rocket. We will keep you all posted!