Build up goes hand in hand with logistics. As you get things, you put them together, and you slowly but surely build a payload.

This is maybe the heart of the experience of putting together a rocket. This is long-hours, deadline based struggle where you take something that only exists on paper and make it happen in reality. You find out where your design was unrealistic or flawed, where you didn't account for certain factors, and where things are more complicated than they initially appeared. And then you fix it, and you make it happen!

Build up encompasses a large range of activities, listed below. Photos of many of the steps are shown in the image carousel at page bottom.

-Ordering and obtaining of parts. Screws, nuts, bolts. Flight payload skins from NASA. Custom machined bulkheads and smaller pieces from machinists. Every single connector you plan to use in the electronics, with spares. Basic lab supplies. Tools you will need. Everything!

-Fit checking/design testing/remaking. Does everything fit and work together like it did in the CAD? Is everything machined to spec?

-Pump down/leak checking. The first pump down gives you confidence that you will have a good seal for all future testing. We had a great first pumpdown, and DEUCE has always pumped down really well and quickly.

-Cleaning. This is the UV, where any grease, oil, or dirt would completely destroy the optical efficiency of our components. Every single part that will ever see the same vacuum as the detector and grating needs to be cleaned extremely thoroughly. Everything from the flight skins to the smallest screw gets isopropyl and acetone, and is kept meticulously clean for the entire buildup process.

-Actual build up. The slow, methodical, piece by piece assembly of the rocket. Each cleaned and checked piece is inserted into the growing payload and is torqued down. The telescope is put into its bulkhead, placed into the skin, and aligned. The grating canister is assembled and the grating is inserted and adjusted. The payload grows step by step into a functioning science instrument.

-Electronics. All of the electronics needed to run the payload are made, board by board. Each board is tested and put into the rocket. Eventually, all of the electronics are tested in unison and any issues are dealt with. All flight cables are made, cleaned, prepared, and installed.

-Testing/Alignment. The complete payload is tested, both at atmosphere and at vacuum. The full payload is put into the CU Long tank and tested under vacuum, observing an artificial UV star. Any tweaks in alignment are made, and the alignment is firmly fixed in its final position. Ideal detector settings are locked in and fixed.

-Cable management and staking. Almost at the end! All flight cables are organized and secured so that they can survive the vibrations and rotations of launch and landing. Usually they are tightly bound and secured to physical mounts at various points in the payload. Every single screw, at risk of unscrewing under vibration and damaging the payload, is 'staked' or glued down.

-Final tests of the flight-ready, fully built up payload are made, prior to sending it to NASA for integration and eventual launch.