Tweet
SpaceX's Falcon Heavy launch facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base's SLC-4E pad is taking shape. (first attached image)
The below pic shows the concrete foundation pads for the FH's horizontal integration hangar have been laid, so it shouldn't be long before it goes up. This hangar is to be about 120 feet wide by 260 feet long - ~31,200 sq/ft. It has to be that wide because of using 3 side-by-side cores on the Falcon Heavy first stage. A big mutha.
No shots of the pad itself, but it'll use the existing Titan IV flame trench.
Also -
Waco Tribune article on the SpaceX McGregor, TX test site and its upgrades.
Below are Google Earth shots showing the McGregor test site, the new construction for the in-ground test facility mentioned in the article, and perhaps the Grass-hopper RLV pad.
Many people think its excessive sounding specs point to something even bigger than testing a Falcon Heavy - guesses center around the massive Falcon X and its Merlin 2 engines.
The below pic shows the concrete foundation pads for the FH's horizontal integration hangar have been laid, so it shouldn't be long before it goes up. This hangar is to be about 120 feet wide by 260 feet long - ~31,200 sq/ft. It has to be that wide because of using 3 side-by-side cores on the Falcon Heavy first stage. A big mutha.
No shots of the pad itself, but it'll use the existing Titan IV flame trench.
Also -
Waco Tribune article on the SpaceX McGregor, TX test site and its upgrades.
Below are Google Earth shots showing the McGregor test site, the new construction for the in-ground test facility mentioned in the article, and perhaps the Grass-hopper RLV pad.
Many people think its excessive sounding specs point to something even bigger than testing a Falcon Heavy - guesses center around the massive Falcon X and its Merlin 2 engines.
SpaceX: Blasting into the future — A Waco Today interview with Elon Musk
What does the advancement of technology sound like? If you live anywhere near the SpaceX rocket development test site in McGregor, you know it can be window-rattlingly loud.
SpaceX, short for Space Exploration Technologies, is competing to be the first commercial company to launch U.S. astronauts into space. If all goes as planned, the number and force of rocket engine tests will increase significantly this year. With every test, the company appears closer to one day taking astronauts into space and possibly sending spacecraft to other realms.
>
>
This year, Musk promises exciting new rocket tests at the McGregor plant that will be unlike anything before. Adjacent land that SpaceX secured last spring will be excavated for an in-ground testing facility for its newest rocket, the Falcon Heavy. He says it will be the most powerful rocket in the world.
Testing will begin this spring on the Merlin 1D engine, which will power the Falcon Heavy. (this sentence is incorrect: Merlin 1D has been under test for some time) To fire all 27 engines at the same time, which is required to lift the massive rocket, a test stand will be built deep into the earth.
“We are, in fact, looking at digging a very deep flame trench so that instead of firing Falcon Heavy engines on elevated test stands, they fire into the ground, reducing noise levels,†said Kirstin Brost Grantham, SpaceX spokeswoman. The new test stand will be connected to the tallest water tower in America. The tower will be 280 feet high and hold 500,000 gallons of water that can be emptied in less than 90 seconds via 6-foot-wide tubes. Rocket engine tests require water to buffer sound; a test of this magnitude will require a lot of water to minimize the noise.
>
What does the advancement of technology sound like? If you live anywhere near the SpaceX rocket development test site in McGregor, you know it can be window-rattlingly loud.
SpaceX, short for Space Exploration Technologies, is competing to be the first commercial company to launch U.S. astronauts into space. If all goes as planned, the number and force of rocket engine tests will increase significantly this year. With every test, the company appears closer to one day taking astronauts into space and possibly sending spacecraft to other realms.
>
>
This year, Musk promises exciting new rocket tests at the McGregor plant that will be unlike anything before. Adjacent land that SpaceX secured last spring will be excavated for an in-ground testing facility for its newest rocket, the Falcon Heavy. He says it will be the most powerful rocket in the world.
Testing will begin this spring on the Merlin 1D engine, which will power the Falcon Heavy. (this sentence is incorrect: Merlin 1D has been under test for some time) To fire all 27 engines at the same time, which is required to lift the massive rocket, a test stand will be built deep into the earth.
“We are, in fact, looking at digging a very deep flame trench so that instead of firing Falcon Heavy engines on elevated test stands, they fire into the ground, reducing noise levels,†said Kirstin Brost Grantham, SpaceX spokeswoman. The new test stand will be connected to the tallest water tower in America. The tower will be 280 feet high and hold 500,000 gallons of water that can be emptied in less than 90 seconds via 6-foot-wide tubes. Rocket engine tests require water to buffer sound; a test of this magnitude will require a lot of water to minimize the noise.
>
Comment