SpaceX F9 1 Dev-1 reusable testbed (1000m, smooth as silk)

[Dr Mordrid]

F9R-1 Dev (Grass-hopper 2) at the SpaceX McGregor TX test center.

They've been doing engine tests, hence the soot, and it will do a short hop before being shipped to the commercial SpacePort America in New Mexico (near the White Sands rocket range.) There it will fly hypersonically up to 300,000 feet and do engine stop/restart, approach and precision landing tests.

To get a feel for its size, compare it to the white pickup truck at frame right.



The landing legs are a mix of lithium- aluminum honeycomb and composites. They're deployed using a helium gas telescoping actuator, which taps the same gas supply as the propellant tank pressurization system. The actuator is stored in a recess along the inside of the leg.

All 4 legs only mass about 4,620 lbs (2,100 kg) and when deployed span 60 feet (27.27 meters.)

Below are pics of concept art with 4 legs attached, flight hardware mounted on a full Falcon 9 v1.1, and a leg prototype on the SpaceX factory floor.

The flight hardware will fly March 16th on the Dragon CRS-3 ISS resupply mission to test re-entry and a landing at sea. The FAA requires precision landing tests before a landing at KSC is attempted.

Concept art


Flight hardware (foot fairing not installed)

Prototype (large pic)

[Dr Mordrid]

Another shot with all 4 legs.

[Dr Mordrid]

F9R Dev-1 static fire, AND they now have an FAA permit for flight tests at McGregor, Texas.

There will probably only be a few flights at McGregor before moving F9R Dev-1 to the commercial SpacePort America in New Mexico for high altitude & hypersonic tests. SPA is near the White Sands Missile Range.

[Dr Mordrid]

Presser,

F9R Static Fire

Published on Mar 28, 2014

SpaceX successfully test fired the first stage of F9R—an advanced prototype for the world's first reusable rocket—in preparation for its first test flight in the coming weeks. Unlike airplanes, a rocket's thrust increases with altitude; F9R generates just over a million pounds of thrust at sea level but gets up to 1.5 million pounds of thrust in the vacuum of space.

The F9R testing program is the next step towards reusability following completion of the Gr****opper program last year. Future testing, including that in New Mexico, will be conducted using the first stage of a Falcon 9 Reusable (F9R) as shown here, which is essentially a Falcon 9 v1.1 first stage with legs. F9R test flights in New Mexico will allow us to test at higher altitudes than we are permitted for at our test site in Texas, to do more with unpowered guidance and to prove out landing cases that are more-flight like.

[Dr Mordrid]

F9R Dev-1 FLIES!!

Which means it must have landed on those previously untested legs.

We should get a video soon.

http://m.wacotrib.com/blogs/joe_scie....html?mode=jqm

Gr****opper's successor flies at SpaceX's McGregor site

Reports have been confirmed that SpaceX's Falcon 9-R development vehicle made its first free flight today at McGregor taking off, hovering, moving sideways and landing. I've seen video of it (though it turns out that video wasn't supposed to be made public yet and is no longer available).

SpaceX McGregor will be testing the rocket the three-engine successor to the single-engine Gr****opper at lower altitudes before sending it to Spaceport America in New Mexico for higher (and farther) flights.

The eventual idea is to have a rocket stage that can return to its launch site for re-use, rather than burning up on re-entry. SpaceX hopes to test different parts of that capability after a launch of the full nine-engine Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral, Fla., set for 2:25 p.m. CDT Friday (though the forecast is still iffy only a 40 percent of acceptable weather, rising to 60 percent for a Saturday attempt and 80 percent for a Tuesday launch).

After the Falcon 9's second stage sends the Dragon cargo ship on its way to the International Space Station, the first stage is planned to fire three of its nine engines for a controlled, non-burning-up descent from orbit, then fire one engine just before an Atlantic Ocean splashdown so it can drop into the water with minimal damage (a test over water means no one gets hurt if anything goes wrong, and SpaceX only gives about a 40 percent chance that the test will fully succeed).

The one time they tried this before, in a September launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, they got the stage most of the way home before it spun out of control. The landing legs added to the Falcon 9 this go-round are hoped to help stabilize the rocket during splashdown.

[Dr Mordrid]

SHE RISES!!

Yes the legs get toasty, but they're coated with a thermal protection material like what Dragon wears. They won't see this much heat in real launches as they deploy late.

[Evildead666]

Great Video Dr, Cheers

[Dr Mordrid]

At last nigjts presser Musk said that they will have 2 development F9R's, Dev-1 and Dev-2.

F9R Dev-1 will continue to fly at McGregor TX, performing tests up to 10,000 feet.

F9R Dev-2 will fly at SpacePort America in New Mexico, performing tests up to 300,000+ feet.

These and what they're doing during launches will test diggerent parts of the return flight envelope, off-normal conditions etc.

They expect to do an operational launch with the first stage touching down at KSC this year. They expect to re-use a stage next year.

[Dr Mordrid]

WOW!!

1,000 meters, 4x as high as last time. Dev-1 is a sporty lady

Confirmed: Merlin 1D can throttle down to 40% - per Elon Musk. Previous estimates were only 70%.

Early flights of F9R will take off with legs fixed in the down position. However, we will soon be transitioning to liftoff with legs stowed against the side of the rocket and then extending them just before landing.

[Umfriend]

Amazing... I would have thought that a little gust of wind could unbalance that thing.

[VJ]

Indeed... It looks like it might tip over, but it is very stable...

Just curious... The benefits of a reusable launcher are obvious, but what are the benefits to landing it this way?
Ok, it negates the need for a runway (and for putting back upright afterwards), but on the other hand requires significant technical hurdles to be overcome with little room for errors.

[Umfriend]

How else would you land it? Retractable wings and gear?

I wonder what the altitude is they aim for to return from. Let's say its 5Km. Would it be in freefall for a while first? How does it stay upright? I imagine that if it tilts just a few degrees it'd be a goner. I'm sure Doc wrote about it earlier but I missed it.

[VJ]

Somehow, landing like a plane seems easier: less fuel needed for landing, more control (?). So to me, the StratoLaunch approach seems to make more sense.
As you say: from what height would they return? And does the launcher ever change orientation, or is it intended to stay upright during the whole flight? Obviously, SpaceX are pursuing this, which means there must be benefits to this approach.

[Dr Mordrid]

Stratolaunch's Pegasus II uses a solid first stage booster which can parachute and be refurbed like Shuttles SRB's.

Liquid launchers, which are more efficient, more powerful, and are safer especially for crew launches, are different. They don't parachute well, and because they stage higher & faster (60+ miles, mach 6-11) they tend to burn or break up (or both) on re-entry.

The USAF, NASA, SpaceX, Arianespace and the Russians have all done the trades on glide-back and other horizontal flyback schemes and the answer is always the same; it adds so much mass that it cuts payloads excessively - often 60-70%. Wings, the structural additions to mount them, aircraft style landing gear (even skifs) etc. are heavy, and adding small turbojets makes ot worse..

SpaceX's system cuts payloads 15-30%, depending on if you land the stage downrange or boost it back to the launch site, and they made it powerful enough that its margins cover landing AND still provides an engine-out capability. That means it can lose 1-2 engines and still complete the mission. It's the only launcher in the world that can do this. It's landng gear only mass about 2.5 tonnes (aluminum honeycomb covered by composites), and 90% of the rest is custom software.

Falcon Heavy and the coming super-heavies will have these capabilities too. SpaceX reveals the Raptor methane engine for those big f'ing rockets next Saturday. The outside engineers are expecting a reusable payload mass of about 150-200 tonnes, and a disposable payload mass of 250-300 tonnes for the single core. Big muthers.