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SpaceX Falcon 1 FRF!(?)
Elon Musk says SpaceX will do what sounds like a flight readiness
firing of the rebuilt Falcon 1 *on the day before launch*. "http://space.com/missionlaunches/060207_spacex_falcon1_delay.html" I'm shaking my head from side to side right now in disbelief or astonishment - I'm not sure which. - Ed Kyle |
#2
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SpaceX Falcon 1 FRF!(?)
Rand Simberg wrote:
On 8 Feb 2006 18:11:11 -0800, in a place far, far away, "Ed Kyle" made the phosphor on my monitor glow in such a way as to indicate that: Elon Musk says SpaceX will do what sounds like a flight readiness firing of the rebuilt Falcon 1 *on the day before launch*. "http://space.com/missionlaunches/060207_spacex_falcon1_delay.html" I'm shaking my head from side to side right now in disbelief or astonishment - I'm not sure which. This isn't news--he's been saying it for days. The fact that he can do it the day before launch says to me that he's got a very responsive system. What's your problem? A rare delurk for me- flight readiness firings are no big deal, we had them in the checklist for the EZ-Rocket. Such runups are the moral equivalent of the magneto checks done on piston engine aircraft. We always did at least one roughly two-second burn on each engine before *every* flight of the EZ-Rocket, and we plan to do the same for the X-Racers during development. If the racers taxi out from the pit area to the runway, that will serve the same purpose... See the "EZ-Rocket prep and flight" at 00:32 http://www.xcor.com/video-ezrocket.html http://www.xcor.com/video/spaceaccess-ezrocket.mpg Flight readiness firings are very very useful- but we call them "runups" because we're not pretentious about it Doug Jones XCOR Rocket Plumber |
#3
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SpaceX Falcon 1 FRF!(?)
"Ed Kyle" writes:
Elon Musk says SpaceX will do what sounds like a flight readiness firing of the rebuilt Falcon 1 *on the day before launch*. "http://space.com/missionlaunches/060207_spacex_falcon1_delay.html" I'm shaking my head from side to side right now in disbelief or astonishment - I'm not sure which. Your! astonishment! indicates! you think this is a bad, or at least a bizarre, idea. Why so? With airplanes, it's certainly common to do a taxi test, where you do everything but take off, and do so quite close to first flight. If your engine start involves lots of pyro or other events involving factory refurbishment, then it makes sense to do your FRF well in advance. But if the engine does not mind, then why not? Do you think they are likely to damage the rocket? Lou Scheffer |
#4
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SpaceX Falcon 1 FRF!(?)
Rand Simberg wrote: On 8 Feb 2006 18:11:11 -0800, in a place far, far away, "Ed Kyle" made the phosphor on my monitor glow in such a way as to indicate that: Elon Musk says SpaceX will do what sounds like a flight readiness firing of the rebuilt Falcon 1 *on the day before launch*. "http://space.com/missionlaunches/060207_spacex_falcon1_delay.html" I'm shaking my head from side to side right now in disbelief or astonishment - I'm not sure which. This isn't news--he's been saying it for days. The fact that he can do it the day before launch says to me that he's got a very responsive system. What's your problem? If the system is so responsive, why didn't they test fire the first Falcon out on the brand new pad at Kwajalein before attempting two failed countdowns, one of which inflicted severe damage to the first vehicle's first stage? Now that they've decided to do a "run up", why rush to launch the next day? Will they really be able to digest the test results that quickly? What SpaceX is doing in the Marshall Islands seems almost haphazard to me. Before demonstrating responsiveness, why don't they execute a more precise flight test program to show that thier machine actually works? - Ed Kyle |
#5
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SpaceX Falcon 1 FRF!(?)
On 8 Feb 2006 18:11:11 -0800, in a place far, far away, "Ed Kyle"
made the phosphor on my monitor glow in such a way as to indicate that: Elon Musk says SpaceX will do what sounds like a flight readiness firing of the rebuilt Falcon 1 *on the day before launch*. "http://space.com/missionlaunches/060207_spacex_falcon1_delay.html" I'm shaking my head from side to side right now in disbelief or astonishment - I'm not sure which. This isn't news--he's been saying it for days. The fact that he can do it the day before launch says to me that he's got a very responsive system. What's your problem? |
#6
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SpaceX Falcon 1 FRF!(?)
Ed Kyle wrote: If the system is so responsive, why didn't they test fire the first Falcon out on the brand new pad at Kwajalein before attempting two failed countdowns, one of which inflicted severe damage to the first vehicle's first stage? Now that they've decided to do a "run up", why rush to launch the next day? Will they really be able to digest the test results that quickly? I imaginre they're using a fairly powerful computer to analyse the result - say 1 MIP? Given a few hours this computer could do a lot of analysis. |
#7
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SpaceX Falcon 1 FRF!(?)
I am a bit worried because they have a very minimal pad without a flame
trench, so they might damage some pad equipment. |
#8
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SpaceX Falcon 1 FRF!(?)
On 8 Feb 2006 18:11:11 -0800,"Ed Kyle" wrote: Elon Musk says SpaceX will do what sounds like a flight readiness firing of the rebuilt Falcon 1 *on the day before launch*. "http://space.com/missionlaunches/060207_spacex_falcon1_delay.html" I'm shaking my head from side to side right now in disbelief or astonishment - I'm not sure which. In other words, you'll be favorably impressed if it works. |
#9
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SpaceX Falcon 1 FRF!(?)
In article . com,
"Alex Terrell" wrote: Ed Kyle wrote: If the system is so responsive, why didn't they test fire the first Falcon out on the brand new pad at Kwajalein before attempting two failed countdowns, one of which inflicted severe damage to the first vehicle's first stage? Now that they've decided to do a "run up", why rush to launch the next day? Will they really be able to digest the test results that quickly? I imaginre they're using a fairly powerful computer to analyse the result - say 1 MIP? Given a few hours this computer could do a lot of analysis. Human minds are required for interpreting the results. Mindless number-crunching is but a tool. Ed's point is valid. SpaceX are looking uncomfortably like Armadillo Aerospace writ large. |
#10
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SpaceX Falcon 1 FRF!(?)
Ed Kyle wrote:
Will they really be able to digest the test results that quickly? Why not? |
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