I still would like to know when Berger spoke to Rye since buried deep in the article is this:"In fact, the first flight engine had to be sent back to Blue Origin's production facilities in Kent, Washington, after a minor problem was found on the test stand. ULA's director of external communications, Jessica Rye, said the flight engine presently in Washington is expected to leave for Texas "shortly." She confirmed that the other flight engine is undergoing "final acceptance testing" in Texas before shipment to Alabama."We are very pleased with where we are from a technical standpoint with the new BE-4 engines, and its great performance," Rye said."
Quote from: Robert_the_Doll on 09/15/2022 09:06 pmI still would like to know when Berger spoke to Rye since buried deep in the article is this:"In fact, the first flight engine had to be sent back to Blue Origin's production facilities in Kent, Washington, after a minor problem was found on the test stand. ULA's director of external communications, Jessica Rye, said the flight engine presently in Washington is expected to leave for Texas "shortly." She confirmed that the other flight engine is undergoing "final acceptance testing" in Texas before shipment to Alabama."We are very pleased with where we are from a technical standpoint with the new BE-4 engines, and its great performance," Rye said."1. The quote isn't "buried deep", it's in the first section. 2. Your answer is literally in the next paragraph (I'm assuming you really want to know when the problem was found, not when Berger talked to his source): early August.
For all we know, he talked to her several days ago and FE-1 is back in Texas and therefore it is prudent to keep an eye out for the telltale signs in the satellite of its ATP.
Were FE-1 tested on the same stand previously used for FE-2 would satellite imagery detect any additional change in the surrounding terrain?
Quote from: sdsds on 09/16/2022 02:48 amWere FE-1 tested on the same stand previously used for FE-2 would satellite imagery detect any additional change in the surrounding terrain?I do believe that the engines use the same test stand; otherwise we wouldn't have had the comments about FE-2 moving up in testing while FE-1 was/is being repaired.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-09-16/bezos-s-rocket-engine-nears-debut-ending-us-reliance-on-russia?leadSource=uverify%20wall
Since no press release has been made about FE-2 completing its acceptance testing (does anyone have an update?), I assume it's still on the stand. No idea if FE-1 is back on the stand in TX.
Quote from: Vettedrmr on 09/23/2022 05:32 pmSince no press release has been made about FE-2 completing its acceptance testing (does anyone have an update?), I assume it's still on the stand. No idea if FE-1 is back on the stand in TX.All we really know is that FE-1 failed before even firing, that they switched to the FE-2 and maybe fired it some, but that so far nobody said "FE 2 passed acceptable testing".Another week and we're into October.Maybe FE-2 is ok but acceptable testing is taking a while since it's the first one. Maybe FE-1 is already fixed and is back on a second test stand. Maybe a lot of things, but there's no evidence to support any of them.
I'm hearing good things about Blue Origin's testing of the second BE-4 flight engine, which United Launch Alliance is eagerly waiting for. First flight engine should ship back to Texas soon. Hopefully Blue will release some images or video of the BE-4 in action
First flight engine should ship back to Texas soon.
Quote from: FutureSpaceTourist on 09/26/2022 07:37 pmFirst flight engine should ship back to Texas soon.My initial thought was "dang, that "minor assembly issue" sure is taking a long time to correct. Then I look back and the tweet commenting on that was August 27th, so just about a month. Probably not too bad for shipping, receiving, correcting, verifying, etc.IF FE-2's acceptance tests take a month, then hopefully FE-1 will complete by maybe Thanksgiving?
When will ULA have at least the first flight engine delivered to them?
I think your initial thought is correct. Shipping? This is the most important visible thing going on in your company for a very important customer. If Blue didn't charter a flight to return the engine it better be because it can only be shipped on land. Even so, a day and a half back to Washington and receiving??? non existant - the engineers will be there waiting to escort it back to the build area for repair. So most of a month...for a "minor assembly issue". As I said, your initial thought is correct here.
Satellite imagery shows that Blue Origin fired a BE-4 engine sometime between the 22nd and 24th of September.This is almost one month after the last sign of a firing, which occurred between the 26th and 27th of August.
This is also seen in Sentinel-2 imagery which you can browse on @soar_earth for free: api.soar.earth/short/s41r1417…
As usual, excellent observations by Harry:twitter.com/harry__stranger/status/1575111924802416642QuoteSatellite imagery shows that Blue Origin fired a BE-4 engine sometime between the 22nd and 24th of September.This is almost one month after the last sign of a firing, which occurred between the 26th and 27th of August.https://twitter.com/harry__stranger/status/1575111940501667840QuoteThis is also seen in Sentinel-2 imagery which you can browse on @soar_earth for free: api.soar.earth/short/s41r1417…