SPX: Falcon 9's first 9 engine test (+video)

[docm]

<p>Story....</p><p>F9 9 engine test video (6.5mb WMV)....&nbsp;</p><p><strong>Quote:</strong></p><strong>Major milestone achieved towards demonstrating U.S. transport to the International Space Station following retirement of the Space Shuttle</strong><br /><br /><font color="#800000"><strong>McGregor TX &ndash; August 1, 2008 -</strong> <strong><em>Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX ) conducted the first nine engine firing of its Falcon 9 launch vehicle at its Texas Test Facility outside McGregor on July 31st. A second firing on August 1st completed a major NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) milestone almost two months early.</em></strong></font><br /><br />At full power, the nine engines consumed 3,200 lbs of fuel and liquid oxygen per second, and generated almost 850,000 pounds of force - four times the maximum thrust of a 747 aircraft. This marks the first firing of a Falcon 9 first stage with its full complement of nine Merlin 1C engines . Once a near term Merlin 1C fuel pump upgrade is complete, the sea level thrust will increase to 950,000 lbf, making Falcon 9 the most powerful single core vehicle in the United States.<br /><br />&ldquo;This was the most difficult milestone in development of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle and it also constitutes a significant achievement in US space vehicle development. Not since the final flight of the Saturn 1B rocket in 1975, has a rocket had the ability to lose any engine or motor and still successfully complete its mission,&rdquo; said Elon Musk, CEO and CTO of SpaceX. &ldquo;Much like a commercial airliner, our multi-engine design has the potential to provide significantly higher reliability than single engine competitors.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;We made a major advancement from the previous five engine test by adding four new Merlin engines at once,&rdquo; said Tom Mueller, Vice President of Propulsion for SpaceX. &ldquo;All phases of integration went smoothly and we were elated to see all nine engines working perfectly in concert.&rdquo; <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[windnwar]

<p>This is another great step forward for them. Very cool to see it work, I can only imagine the noise that must have been around there. </p><p>&nbsp;Now we just have to wait for the falcon 1 launch. </p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font size="2" color="#0000ff">""Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." --Albert Einstein"</font></p> </div>

 

[ThereIWas2]

Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>This is another great step forward for them. Very cool to see it work, I can only imagine the noise that must have been around there. &nbsp;Now we just have to wait for the falcon 1 launch. <br /> Posted by windnwar</DIV><br /><br />Not much longer.&nbsp; Scheduled for 7pm EDT tonight.&nbsp; (Aug 2) <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><span class="postbody"><span style="font-style:italic"><br /></span></span></p> </div>

 

[docm]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>This is another great step forward for them. Very cool to see it work, <strong>I can only imagine the noise that must have been around there.</strong> &nbsp;Now we just have to wait for the falcon 1 launch. <br /> Posted by windnwar</DIV></p><p>Imagine an F9 Heavy <img src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-tongue-out.gif" border="0" alt="Tongue out" title="Tongue out" /> </p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[js117]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Not much longer.&nbsp; Scheduled for 7pm EDT tonight.&nbsp; (Aug 2) <br />Posted by ThereIWas2</DIV></p><p>Update</p><p>Falcon 1 <br />Not much longer.&nbsp; Scheduled for 8:55pm EDT tonight.&nbsp; (Aug 2)</p><p>Live webcast on&nbsp;www.spacex.com&nbsp;</p>