SpaceX Falcon 9

[Salo]

SFN: SpaceX doubles down on inaugural Falcon 9 mission

The company also said the first Falcon 9 rocket will be assembled at the Cape in November, and launch should occur one to three months after that milestone.

But according to an Air Force document first made public by the Orlando Sentinel, SpaceX has requested a launch date of Nov. 29 on the Air Force's Eastern Range. The range oversees launch operations and a network of required communications and tracking sites stretching from the U.S. East Coast across the Atlantic Ocean.

The range document lists a launch window on Nov. 29 between 1600 GMT and 2000 GMT (11 a.m. and 3 p.m. EST).

Musk said not to read too much into that date.

"It is possible, but unlikely that we would be able to launch on Nov 29," Musk said in an email response to questions.

"This should be thought of as a 'no earlier than" date,'" Musk said. "Everything would have to go right to make that date and that is rare in the rocket business. That did happen for the last two flights of Falcon 1 and we've learned a lot since then, but Falcon 9 is a new rocket."

SpaceX engineers finished qualification testing on the Falcon 9's second stage Merlin vacuum engine last week and will soon begin acceptance checks on the power plant.

The first stage and its nine Merlin engines have already passed qualification testing.

Rocket hardware traveling from the company's California headquarters to the Florida launch site are stopping in Texas for final checks at SpaceX's test site.

The Falcon 9's second stage is currently undergoing structural and separation tests in Texas.

Officials plan to wrap up the testing in Texas with a firing of all nine first stage engines in a full flight configuration. One last hotfire is planned after the rocket is integrated in Florida.

[Salo]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/space/orl-spacex-rocket-reacy-092309,0,6968854.story

SpaceX Falcon 9 plans for November 29 launch from Cape Canaveral

Robert Block  Sentinel Space Editor

10:02 a.m. EDT, September 23, 2009
 
CAPE CANAVERAL - After being removed from the U.S. Air Force's 45th Space Wing's launch schedule for five months, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket is back on the board. The most recent 90-day Eastern Range forecast released Tuesday has the new rocket's maiden launch planned for November 29 at 11 a.m. local time.

The reappearance of the Falcon 9 on the Air Force program comes exactly one week after several members of Congress cast doubt on the viability of commercial spaceflight as they defended NASA's plans to replace the space shuttle.

Their remarks were in response to the findings of a presidential blue ribbon panel that suggested NASA rely on commercial spaceships to carry crew and cargo to the international space station.

Some members called the notion irresponsible, saying commercial rockets were little more than cartoon fantasies.

U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who is married to a NASA astronaut, led the charge in a heated House hearing. The Arizona Democrat said the U.S. could not "gain anything by confusing hypothetical commercial capabilities that might someday exist with what we can actually count on now to meet the nation's needs."

Advocates of commercial space companies, especially SpaceX, say Falcon 9's return to the Air Force manifest is a significant development that should show critics that the promise of new rocket companies is real.

"It's another wave in a cascade of recognition that SpaceX is a real company and another contender in the market," said Space Florida President Frank DiBello.

SpaceX is owned by former internet tycoon Elon Musk. The Falcon 9 is a medium lift class rocket with nine Merlin engines. It is being designed to haul both cargo and crew into space, though SpaceX's contract with NASA so far only covers cargo flights under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services, or COTS, program.

The rocket was assembled at its pad on Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and raised for several days in January. It has passed all its developmental milestones, including a full test firing of its complete first stage, but has yet to fly.

In May, the rocket was bumped from holding dates because of a combination of unfinished technical work on the rocket and incomplete documentation for the Air Force, which manages safety on the Eastern Range. The 45th Space Wing Commander, Brig. General Edward Bolton, said at the time that the Air Force could not continue to reserve launch dates for Falcon 9 until SpaceX satisfied the range safety requirements.

The Falcon 9 launch is now scheduled to launch less than six weeks after NASA's Ares I rocket prototype, the Ares I-X , is supposed to make its test flight, which the agency is hailing as a major milestone in its rocket's development.

SpaceX vice president Larry Williams said that November 29 would be the earliest date that the Falcon 9 would launch, though he said that date could slip as first launches can sometimes be a challenge. But he stressed the first flight of Falcon 9 is "months away, not years" as some critics have claimed.

He confirmed that the company was also considering flying the rocket with SpaceX's Dragon capsule that is supposed to deliver cargo to the space station. Originally the rocket was to fly only with a five-meter fairing. But the final decision to test the spacecraft for the first time with the rocket has not been finalized, he said.

"This is a big deal," said Williams "We are now on the Air Force range manifest and are working towards a launch before the end of the year. We are certainly not a fantasy."

[Salo]

Данные по F9 у Эда Кайла:
http://www.spacelaunchreport.com/falcon9.html#config

[serb]

Мне кажется или перегородки между Мерлинами не доходят даже до критического сечения?

[Salo]

[Дмитрий В.]

Мне кажется или перегородки между Мерлинами не доходят даже до критического сечения?

Да главное, чтобы ТНА были изолированы.

[serb]

Да главное, чтобы ТНА были изолированы.

а камеры соседние не посечёт?
Или там разлёт только в плоскости вращения, а в других плоскостях вообще ничего не летит?

[Дмитрий В.]

Да главное, чтобы ТНА были изолированы.

а камеры соседние не посечёт?
Или там разлёт только в плоскости вращения, а в других плоскостях вообще ничего не летит?

Опасность, в основном представляет разрушение ТНА - разлет высокотвердых осколков турбины, а они естественно, могут разлетаться в плоскости вращения.

[serb]

Опасность, в основном представляет разрушение ТНА - разлет высокотвердых осколков турбины

А фугасный эффект, ударная волна - пренебрежимо малы? Или там и нет его, только медленное горение?

[Петр Зайцев]

Опасность, в основном представляет разрушение ТНА - разлет высокотвердых осколков турбины

А фугасный эффект, ударная волна - пренебрежимо малы? Или там и нет его, только медленное горение?

Элон сказал, что по опыту разрушения Мерлина на стенде взрыва как на НК-15 не происходит. Затрудняюсь сказать, прав ли он, а если прав, то почему. Давление, конечно, меньше...
-- Pete

[Космос-3794]

Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) объявила о успешном завершении приемочных испытаний обеих ступеней носителя Falcon 9, в процессе подготовки его первого запуска.

http://spacefellowship.com/2009/10/06/completion-of-acceptance-testing-for-falcon-9-first-and-second-stages/

[Salo]

SPACEX ANNOUNCES COMPLETION OF ACCEPTANCE TESTING FOR FALCON 9 FIRST AND SECOND STAGES

[ronatu]

McGregor, Texas (October 21, 2009) – Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) successfully conducted two static firings of the first stage, nine engine cluster for its Falcon 9 launch vehicle. The firings took place at SpaceX's Texas Test Site, a 300-acre structural and propulsion testing facility just outside of Waco, Texas. With completion of these tests, the first stage has now passed both structural and propulsion acceptance testing and will ship to Cape Canaveral in preparation for the first flight of Falcon 9.

The first test fired for 10 seconds and occurred on October 12th at approximately 7:30 pm CDT. The second test began around 4:30 pm CDT on October 16th, and lasted 30 seconds.

The first stage of Falcon 9 uses a cluster of nine SpaceX-designed and developed Merlin engines. Using rocket-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen, the cluster generates nearly a million pounds of thrust [/size]for the vehicle upon liftoff. The Merlin engine is one of the only liquid rocket engines designed in the United States in the last few decades, and is now among the highest performing gas generator cycle kerosene engines ever built, exceeding the Boeing Delta II main engine, the Lockheed Martin Atlas II main engine, and on par with the Saturn V F-1 engine.

The stage will ship to SpaceX's launch site at Cape Canaveral next month to begin vehicle integration in preparation for first flight. The inaugural flight of Falcon 9 will be a demonstration flight and will launch a Dragon spacecraft qualification unit into orbit to provide SpaceX with valuable aerodynamic and performance information.

[ronatu]

[Ну-и-ну]

Интересно, корона им не жмёт, "on par with the Saturn V F-1 engine", мля.

[Петр Зайцев]

Интересно, корона им не жмёт, "on par with the Saturn V F-1 engine", мля.

Не пойму, отчего неудовольствие? У Мерлина УИ 275, у F-1 только 263 (оба на уровне моря). Есть чем похвалиться.
-- Pete

[Бродяга]

Когда приблизительно старт и какая будет полезная нагрузка, не говорили ещё?

Кстати, как я понимаю, у них и на первой и на второй ступени один и тот же двигатель?
 Такое было вообще ещё где-то?

[Андрей Суворов]

Какая нагрузка, уже определились - макет "Дракона", тот же, что был на статических испытаниях. Когда пустят - не говорят, но обещают до конца года.

Двигатели на первой и второй ступенях отличаются, но не сильно. У второй ступени высотное сопло, с большим неохлаждаемым ниобиевым насадком, а охлаждаемая часть короче, но шире. Насколько я понимаю, время работы двигателя второй ступени заметно больше, чем первой, но для регенеративной версии (к тому же, с меньшей площадью охлаждаемой закритической части) это проблема небольшая - но, какие-то узлы ТНА подверглись переделке из-за этого.

Не знаю, что там с управлением по крену, у Ф-1е для этого было отклоняемое сопло ТНА... У Мерлина с высотным соплом патрубок пришлось бы делать слишком длинным, чтобы он не создавал возмущающего момента по тангажу.

[Андрей Суворов]

Кстати, как я понимаю, у них и на первой и на второй ступени один и тот же двигатель?
 Такое было вообще ещё где-то?

На Н-1, конечно!

[Бродяга]

Кстати, как я понимаю, у них и на первой и на второй ступени один и тот же двигатель?
 Такое было вообще ещё где-то?

На Н-1, конечно!

Нет, вообще на всей ракете двигатель одного типа был где-то?