Aerobrakes — Lesson 16: Flight Testing

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Every session since Lesson 11 has been building toward this one: the system is integrated, the safety review is done, and now it flies.

Objective: execute a real flight test and safely recover its data.

Session Activities

Before anything else, confirm the Lesson 11 (P3-M0) regulatory and safety clearance is documented and signed off — this is a hard prerequisite, not a formality. Run a full pre-flight checklist including a range safety briefing and a mechanical safety check confirming the airbrakes are stowed and locked for boost.

Launch, recover the rocket, and archive the raw telemetry immediately — before any analysis begins. Getting the data safely off the flight computer and backed up takes priority over looking at it.

Maps to milestone P3-M4.