Falcon 9 Launch & Recovery Operations |
Falcon 9 Launch & Recovery Operations |
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Senior Member ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 1018 Joined: 29-November 05 From: Seattle, WA, USA Member No.: 590 ![]() |
SpaceX just sent a press release with an update on the Falcon 9. They successfully did a 5-engine test. They also mentioned the next Falcon 1 attempt will be late June "or July," presumably meaning "late June or early July," but you never know. :-)
Here's the full text. This isn't on their web page yet, the last I looked: McGregor TX – Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) conducted the first five-engine firing of its Falcon 9 medium to heavy lift rocket at its Texas Test Facility outside McGregor on Thursday, May 29. At full power the engines generated almost half a million pounds of force, and consumed 1,750 lbs of fuel and liquid oxygen per second. This five engine test again sets the record as the most powerful test yet on the towering 235-foot tall test stand. The test of the five Merlin 1C engines, arranged in a cross pattern like the Saturn V moon rocket, is the last step before firing the full complement of nine engines, scheduled for this summer. With all engines operating, the Falcon 9 generates over one million pounds of thrust in vacuum - four times the maximum thrust of a 747 aircraft. “This is the first time that we’ve added more than one engine at a time, and all phases of integration and testing went smoothly,” said Tom Mueller, Vice President of Propulsion for SpaceX. “As with previous tests, we saw no unexpected interactions between the engines, and are on schedule for adding four more engines.” The first Falcon 9 will arrive at the SpaceX launch site at Cape Canaveral by the end of 2008. The next flight of SpaceX’s smaller Falcon 1 rocket is scheduled for late June or July of 2008. |
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Senior Member ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 1018 Joined: 29-November 05 From: Seattle, WA, USA Member No.: 590 ![]() |
Key info from the article is that the launch will be no sooner than March 22, and Elon, citing the uncertainties that accompany new-vehicle development, is saying "March to May" with perhaps most probability around late April.
They're doing a dress rehersal next week, though, where they'll fuel up the rocket and fire the engines for about four seconds. --Greg |
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#3
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![]() Senior Member ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 3648 Joined: 1-October 05 From: Croatia Member No.: 523 ![]() |
They're doing a dress rehersal next week, though, where they'll fuel up the rocket and fire the engines for about four seconds. Based on previous timelines, I'm skeptical they'll manage to do a wet dress rehearsal and a static test by the end of the week. I'd be surprised if even the wet dress rehearsal happened during that timeframe. A static firing is the last crucial test of the pad, rocket, the team and countdown sequence before the launch, and actual launch could happen as soon as a week after that. Elon saying he doesn't expect launch happening that soon suggests he also realizes there'll be many bugs to work out and things figured out before getting to that static firing. EDIT: New images at spaceflightnow.com. -------------------- |
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