Prepares To Demonstrate US Transport To International Space
Station
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. successfully conducted a
full mission-length firing of its Falcon 9 launch vehicle's first
stage at its McGregor Test Facility in Texas, on November 22.
For the static test firing, the first stage remains firmly
secured to the massive vertical test stand, where it fired for 178
seconds, or nearly three minutes -- simulating the climb of the
giant rocket from the surface of the Earth towards orbit.
At full power, the rocket generated 855,000 pounds of force at
sea level. In vacuum, the thrust increases to approximately one
million pounds or four times the maximum thrust of a 747 aircraft.
The test consumed over half a million pounds of propellant. All
nine engines fired for 160 seconds, then two engines were shut down
to limit the acceleration and the remaining seven engines continued
firing for 18 more seconds, as would occur in a typical climb to
orbit.
The test firing validated the design of SpaceX's use of nine
engines on the first stage, as well as the ability to shut down
engines without affecting the functioning of the remaining engines.
This demonstrates the ability of Falcon 9 to lose engines in flight
and still complete its mission successfully, much as a commercial
airliner is designed to be safe in the event of an engine loss.
Like an airliner, the Falcon 9 engines are enclosed in a protective
sheath that ensures a fire or destructive loss of an engine doesn't
affect the rest of the vehicle.
SpaceX says the Falcon 9 will be the first vehicle since the
Saturn V and Saturn 1 to have the ability to lose any engine/motor
and still be able to complete its mission without loss of crew or
spacecraft. Engine-out reliability proved crucial to mission
success on two of the Saturn V flights.
"In the past month, we performed significant upgrades to the
test stand and flame trench in preparation for this test," said Tom
Mueller, Vice President of Propulsion for SpaceX. "We added the
flight base heat shields around the engines to protect the bottom
of the rocket from the prolonged blast of heat and vibration."
"The full mission-length test firing clears the highest hurdle
for the Falcon 9 first stage before launch," said Elon Musk, CEO
and CTO of SpaceX. "In the next few months, we will have the first
Falcon 9 flight vehicle on its launch pad at Cape Canaveral,
preparing for lift-off in 2009."