Author Topic: SpaceX McGregor Testing Updates and Discussion (Thread 4)  (Read 531514 times)

Offline mvpel

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Re: SpaceX McGregor Testing Updates and Discussion (Thread 4)
« Reply #220 on: 07/29/2016 07:05 pm »
Full duration test fire of JCSAT-14 at McGregor!

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2016/07/spacex-returned-falcon-9-booster-mcgregor/



I wonder if that's a new unpainted interstage, or if they cleaned the scorched and scoured paint off the old one.
« Last Edit: 07/29/2016 07:10 pm by Chris Bergin »
"Ugly programs are like ugly suspension bridges: they're much more liable to collapse than pretty ones, because the way humans (especially engineer-humans) perceive beauty is intimately related to our ability to process and understand complexity. A language that makes it hard to write elegant code makes it hard to write good code." - Eric S. Raymond

Online FutureSpaceTourist

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Re: SpaceX McGregor Testing Updates and Discussion (Thread 4)
« Reply #221 on: 07/29/2016 07:16 pm »
SpaceX ‏@SpaceX
SpaceX rocket development facility in McGregor, Texas. Every engine for every rocket is tested here before flight.
https://twitter.com/SpaceX

Larger version attached, may be able to pick out more details.

It's certainly quite a complex now compared with how they started.

Offline cuddihy

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Re: SpaceX McGregor Testing Updates and Discussion (Thread 4)
« Reply #222 on: 07/29/2016 08:49 pm »
Wow, new hangar under construction across the parking lot from the main building?

Offline rpapo

Wow, new hangar under construction across the parking lot from the main building?
L2 is your friend...

Seriously, this has been known about for a while now... in L2.
« Last Edit: 07/29/2016 08:57 pm by rpapo »
Following the space program since before Apollo 8.

Offline cuddihy

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Re: SpaceX McGregor Testing Updates and Discussion (Thread 4)
« Reply #224 on: 07/29/2016 09:00 pm »
Yes, I've been a member before, in more flush times...any non L2 info on this hangar? It's clearly needed if you're refurbishing multiple stages.

Offline rpapo

Yes, I've been a member before, in more flush times...any non L2 info on this hangar? It's clearly needed if you're refurbishing multiple stages.
There's been no statement that I know of from SpaceX, and speculation is that it indeed will be used to provide climate controlled storage for extra cores, perhaps to provide a buffer for handling scheduling issues between Hawthorne, MacGregor and the various launch sites.
« Last Edit: 07/29/2016 09:06 pm by rpapo »
Following the space program since before Apollo 8.

Online matthewkantar

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Re: SpaceX McGregor Testing Updates and Discussion (Thread 4)
« Reply #226 on: 07/29/2016 11:22 pm »
Where is Grasshopper? There is something first-stage-sized lying down in the middle on the left side of the photo, it can't be the test bed, can it?

Matthew

« Last Edit: 07/29/2016 11:33 pm by matthewkantar »

Online matthewkantar

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Re: SpaceX McGregor Testing Updates and Discussion (Thread 4)
« Reply #227 on: 07/29/2016 11:34 pm »
Should have done a little research before spouting off, Grasshopper would be a bit off camera to the left.

Matthew

Offline mto

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Offline llanitedave

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Re: SpaceX McGregor Testing Updates and Discussion (Thread 4)
« Reply #229 on: 07/31/2016 10:49 pm »
SpaceX shows off testing facility to big McGregor crowd

http://www.wacotrib.com/news/business/spacex-shows-mcgregor-residents-around-testing-facility/article_b9e6d0fb-9519-5f86-8eab-a38fe6b3e4aa.html

Even had a petting zoo!


I wonder if the public was able to pet the rare Elon Muskrat?
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Offline Lar

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Re: SpaceX McGregor Testing Updates and Discussion (Thread 4)
« Reply #230 on: 08/01/2016 08:41 pm »
I split off the trivia about what makes a particular exhibit special to its own thread.... after the "jiffy pop" comment it seemed like it might dilute this thread a bit.

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=40840

Trivia and guessing is fun but maybe dilutes focus a bit.
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Offline AncientU

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Re: SpaceX McGregor Testing Updates and Discussion (Thread 4)
« Reply #231 on: 08/02/2016 01:38 am »
The 200 or so vehicles in the parking lot show what a hive that place must be. Pictures there are usually devoid of personnel.
Somewhere else on the forum is a recent quote from SpaceX that they are currently employing 300 people at McGregor and looking to double that in a few years.

Quote
In a brief address, human resources vice president Brian Bjelde from the company’s headquarters in Hawthorne, California, told diners under a pavilion that SpaceX had conducted 5,000 tests at the McGregor facility since its establishment in 2003.

“Some say that’s more tests than a person would take showers in 13 years,” Bjelde said. “It’s a long way to come from three employees on 250 acres to our current 500 employees here now.”

http://www.wacotrib.com/news/business/spacex-shows-mcgregor-residents-around-testing-facility/article_b9e6d0fb-9519-5f86-8eab-a38fe6b3e4aa.html
"If we shared everything [we are working on] people would think we are insane!"
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Online Chris Bergin

A round up of where things stand with stages going through McGregor:
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2016/08/spacex-falcon-9-preparation-jcsat-16-amos-6/
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Offline Shanuson

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Re: SpaceX McGregor Testing Updates and Discussion (Thread 4)
« Reply #233 on: 08/09/2016 05:28 pm »
Something to look out for:


Quote
C. G. Niederstrasser ‏@RocketScient1st

Shotwell - just shipped first Raptor engine to Texas last night. #SpaceX #smallsat

https://twitter.com/RocketScient1st/status/763063393745940481

Offline Lars-J

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Re: SpaceX McGregor Testing Updates and Discussion (Thread 4)
« Reply #234 on: 08/09/2016 05:53 pm »
Something to look out for:


Quote
C. G. Niederstrasser ‏@RocketScient1st

Shotwell - just shipped first Raptor engine to Texas last night. #SpaceX #smallsat

https://twitter.com/RocketScient1st/status/763063393745940481

Wow!  :o  This I would like to see!

Offline philw1776

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Re: SpaceX McGregor Testing Updates and Discussion (Thread 4)
« Reply #235 on: 08/09/2016 06:07 pm »
Prepare for blue flame
FULL SEND!!!!

Offline mme

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Re: SpaceX McGregor Testing Updates and Discussion (Thread 4)
« Reply #236 on: 08/09/2016 06:24 pm »
Something to look out for:


Quote
C. G. Niederstrasser ‏@RocketScient1st

Shotwell - just shipped first Raptor engine to Texas last night. #SpaceX #smallsat

https://twitter.com/RocketScient1st/status/763063393745940481

A complete Raptor?  That certainly caught me off guard!
Space is not Highlander.  There can, and will, be more than one.

Online wannamoonbase

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Re: SpaceX McGregor Testing Updates and Discussion (Thread 4)
« Reply #237 on: 08/09/2016 06:32 pm »
Something to look out for:


Quote
C. G. Niederstrasser ‏@RocketScient1st

Shotwell - just shipped first Raptor engine to Texas last night. #SpaceX #smallsat

https://twitter.com/RocketScient1st/status/763063393745940481

Whoa Buster!!

This is exciting, a full flow staged combustion on a test stand.

Edit: The great show down: BE-4 v Raptor is about to get fired up.
« Last Edit: 08/09/2016 07:56 pm by wannamoonbase »
Wildly optimistic prediction, Superheavy recovery on IFT-4 or IFT-5

Offline IainMcClatchie

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Re: SpaceX McGregor Testing Updates and Discussion (Thread 4)
« Reply #238 on: 08/09/2016 07:44 pm »
I'm looking forward to the first pics.  Very curious to see if it's an upper stage or booster engine.

Offline AncientU

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Re: SpaceX McGregor Testing Updates and Discussion (Thread 4)
« Reply #239 on: 08/09/2016 09:19 pm »
Would be great to capture an incoming shipment to estimate size.
"If we shared everything [we are working on] people would think we are insane!"
-- SpaceX friend of mlindner

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