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Musk Announces Return-to-Flight Date For Falcon 9 Rocket

Posted by timothy on from the there-and-back-again dept.

Rei writes: After being grounded for six months after a strut failure doomed the launch vehicle, Elon Musk has confirmed rumors that SpaceX plans to try for launch again on December 19th, with a static test firing on December 16th. SpaceX will also attempt a landing of their first stage — not at sea, but on land. Lastly, this will be the first launch of a Falcon 9 "Full Thrust" variant, where the propellants are supercooled (with the oxygen just above its freezing point) to increase their density and thus fuel flow and thrust.

3 of 114 comments (clear)

  1. just a comment by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This return to flight launch is going to be scrutinized by a lot of folks. Hopefully SpaceX has truly determined the problems for the accident. A landing back at the Cape would be awesome.

  2. Supercooling by excelsior_gr · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Aren't supercooled materials actually cooled below their freezing point, but kept in a liquid state? Oxygen "just above its freezing point" is damned cold, but not supercooled. So, which one is it?

  3. Re:Space Launches Schedule by Rei · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Not to mention Falcon Heavy planned for around April to May of 2016 - which probably means "summer". I'm so looking forward to that one... 55 tonnes to LEO for somewhere around $100m... can you imagine what sort of probes we could launch with that kind of launch economy? Picture any probe we've launched thusfar and imagine what the designers could have achieved on that mission if they'd been given five times the mass budget.

    --
    Nothing says 'welcome to the neighborhood' like a gunny sack full of dead squirrels.