Mueller: started in May 2002 at #SpaceX
Mueller: Only propulsion person among 9 initial employees -- had a very hard time hiring people, co-workers at TRW said they would fail and that he'd end up back there. #ISDC
Mueller: Merlin 1A to Merlin 1C to Merlin 1D -- found a lot of smart young engineers #ISDC
Mueller #ISDC: First task, develop a gas generator 00\\99 used XCOR test stand to set up in Mojave. Ran 90 second test.
Mueller #ISDC: Did 1 test, but XCOR people said he didn't plan to do more than 1 per day. But, it was only 11 a.m. so they scrambled and did more tests.
Mueller #ISDC: Limited at Mojave airport in how much they could test, took over old Beal Aerospace test site in Texas. Merlin Thrust Chamber Test -- celebrated with cognac --got pulled over speeding, but officer let them go.
Mueller #ISDC: An employee who was a falconer suggested naming the engine after a falcon. Merlin is a medium sized falcon. The rocket is named after Millennium Falcon from Star Wars.
Tom Mueller #ISDC Some early problems with flame duct on test stand.
Mueller #ISDC: Tried to launch from Vandenberg, Atlas V with classified payload had to go to Marshall Islands. First three launches failed, fourth succeeded.
Can anyone comment on what we're looking at in the test stand flame duct picture?
Was the deep throttle update previously public information? If so, I missed it.
Quote from: abaddon on 05/24/2018 05:05 pmWas the deep throttle update previously public information? If so, I missed it.Depends on what he means by "deep throttle". Is that relative or absolute? How deep is deep? etc.
Quote from: deruch on 05/24/2018 08:23 pmQuote from: abaddon on 05/24/2018 05:05 pmWas the deep throttle update previously public information? If so, I missed it.Depends on what he means by "deep throttle". Is that relative or absolute? How deep is deep? etc.We knew M1D could throttle to 40% at SL. The way the tweet reads, it sounds like the Block 5 version is "upgraded", i.e. it can throttle lower. But I don't think it's a direct quote, so take that with a grain of salt.
Which era M1D do we know the 40% from? We know that maximum thrust has increased with the various F9 blocks. If the minimum thrust didn't decrease, the % throttle depth goes deeper. Presumably, they have not raised the minimum thrust, or at least not much, or landings would get harder.
Quote from: meberbs on 05/24/2018 09:27 pmWhich era M1D do we know the 40% from? We know that maximum thrust has increased with the various F9 blocks. If the minimum thrust didn't decrease, the % throttle depth goes deeper. Presumably, they have not raised the minimum thrust, or at least not much, or landings would get harder.Thrust should be fairly easy to infer from video of landings where the on-stage video has been shown.Does anyone know of any attempts at doing this?