So... Jump right back into base overheat issues? No?? Ok. Ok. How about some serious questions to get this thread started:Will SpaceX need to take the stage down to swap out all 9 engines, or will they swap them on the stand?
How long is this expected to take?
"SpaceX is planning to run another test at our rocket development facility in McGregor, Texas that will be significantly louder than the typical tests we run daily. This test will be similar in scope to recent tests, running from seconds in duration up to several minutes. The earliest possible date for the upcoming test is Wed., July 3rd."
Everybody has told me I was wrong and SpaceX is done with qualification testing. But this sounds to me like another attempt on doing the 3 minutes qualification run. Not like an acceptance burn for the flight stage.I'm prepared to hear again, how wrong I am.
Quote"SpaceX is planning to run another test at our rocket development facility in McGregor, Texas that will be significantly louder than the typical tests we run daily. This test will be similar in scope to recent tests, running from seconds in duration up to several minutes. The earliest possible date for the upcoming test is Wed., July 3rd."Everybody has told me I was wrong and SpaceX is done with qualification testing. But this sounds to me like another attempt on doing the 3 minutes qualification run. Not like an acceptance burn for the flight stage.I'm prepared to hear again, how wrong I am.
SpaceX completed first-stage development testing on June 19 with a firing that achieved all verifications needed following earlier stage testing. With this test, we have achieved the equivalent of nearly two full mission duty cycles on the integrated stage. We are now moving into the stage acceptance tests and final preparations for flight.
Quote from: guckyfan on 07/02/2013 11:12 pmEverybody has told me I was wrong and SpaceX is done with qualification testing. But this sounds to me like another attempt on doing the 3 minutes qualification run. Not like an acceptance burn for the flight stage.I'm prepared to hear again, how wrong I am. There's more than one launch this year.
Are these the new flight engines then?
Interesting that there are navigation sensors to allow autonomous precision landing. Might the same sensor outfit end up on Dragonrider for its propulsive landing?
From the smoke drifting off to the left, it looks like the recording only started 10-20 seconds late. The engines cut out at 1:54, so total burn is ~125-135 seconds.Are these the new flight engines then?