Falcon 9 Heavy vs. Soviet N-1

Jochem Huhmann wrote:

Additionally the Russians did never test the N-1 first stage prior to
launch, while SpaceX already did a full test for the F-9 first stage.
This is not to say that the Falcon 9 (Heavy) can't fail, but it has a
much higher chance not to fail than the N-1.

All four N=1 failures were due to different causes, not some fundamental
flaw in the engines.

Pat

Pat Flannery writes:

Jochem Huhmann wrote:

Additionally the Russians did never test the N-1 first stage prior to
launch, while SpaceX already did a full test for the F-9 first stage.
This is not to say that the Falcon 9 (Heavy) can't fail, but it has a
much higher chance not to fail than the N-1.

All four N=1 failures were due to different causes, not some fundamental
flaw in the engines.

But all were due to a flaw in the first stage which could have been
caught with full testing. They did never (to my knowlegde) a full
vibration test, a fuel flow test or (god forbid) a test with all engines
running for the full duration of the first stage burn.

All of that has been done with the Falcon 9 first stage, though. All
engines running with a full first stage attached for the full duration
of a real launch. This still leaves the aerodynamic effects out, but I
would say that there's about an order of magnitude more confidence in
the thing than in the N-1 now.


Jochem

--
"A designer knows he has arrived at perfection not when there is no
longer anything to add, but when there is no longer anything to take away."
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery