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SpaceX Conducts First On-Pad Test-Fire of Falcon 9

Posted by timothy on from the still-learning-how-to-stage-launches dept.

FleaPlus writes "On Saturday, SpaceX successfully conducted a launch dress rehearsal and on-pad test firing of their completed Falcon 9 rocket, with the 15-story tall rocket held down to prevent launch (videos). SpaceX is one of several likely competitors (ranging from the upstart Blue Origin to the more experienced Boeing) in NASA's new plans for commercial crew transportation to low-Earth orbit. SpaceX has been cleared by Cape Canaveral for the Falcon 9's first orbital launch next month, carrying a test model of the company's Dragon cargo/crew capsule, although CEO/CTO Elon Musk has cautioned that they're still in the equivalent of 'beta testing' for the first few flights."

2 of 109 comments (clear)

  1. Re:15-stories? by vlm · · Score: 4, Informative

    I know americans have problems with units for length but really "15 story tall"? Exactly how tall is a story?

    How tall are you? A story is a bit taller than that, to account for ceiling mounted HVAC ducts and lighting. Intuitively its going to be about 10 feet per story, to one sig fig. Or about 3 meters. So, figure around 150 feet, or around 45 meters.

    I agree that it is about as annoying as specifying all computer related measurements in "libraries of congress".

    It would have been much more interesting if the journalist compared it to the size of a common launcher, like a space shuttle stack. Its 25% taller than a ready to launch shuttle stack or whatever it turns out to be.

    --
    "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
  2. Re:Great! Keep (slowly) driving down the cost... by vlm · · Score: 4, Informative

    1) Will the bureaucracy actually be reduced? I suspect not.

    You could staff 30 SpaceX companies with the number of people downsized by the shuttle program ending. Or in other words, its not a good time to be an aerospace engineer. (Has it ever been a good time to be an aerospace engineer?)

    Downsize 27000 jobs as regards the shuttle shut down. Note that is a delta, for the industry not just NASA.
    I know its an industry wide figure because NASA only employs 17900 people per wikipedia.

    http://app1.kuhf.org/houston_public_radio-news-display.php?articles_id=1267053819

    SpaceX employs 900 people

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX

    --
    "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger