Falcon Heavy for the Outer Solar System

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Mar 2018 15:53:32 +0000

Falcon Heavy for the Outer Solar System Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 03/02/2018 - 08:53

Jay Bennett

From Popular Mechanics: "If that thing goes up 200 feet and explodes, I'm jumping in the water"—so says one of the tens of thousands of spectators who made the pilgrimage to NASA's Kennedy Space Center. We're looking at Elon Musk's Falcon Heavy rocket on the launch pad about three miles away, across one of the ponds of Cape Canaveral's marshy wetlands, awaiting its maiden voyage.

It's a nervy day. The launch window was to open at 1:30 p.m. Then it slips an hour, and another hour after that as SpaceX waits for winds to die down in the upper atmosphere. Finally, a liftoff time is set for 3:45 p.m. The day's window closes for good at 4. People start to murmur the word "scrub."

But then SpaceX starts to fuel the rocket. First comes the RP-1 kerosene rocket fuel, then the LOX with its distinctive venting. Falcon Heavy snarls on the pad. At 3:45 on the money, an enormous plume erupts from under the rocket, and it starts to climb. At first, actually, it crawls. The upward propulsion must equal the force of gravity pulling down on the 3-million-pound rocket before it will budge. The first inches take the longest. Read more...

Off

Traditional

White

Let the Falcon Heavy Fly

Anonymous — Mon, 05 Feb 2018 16:25:12 +0000

Let the Falcon Heavy Fly Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 02/05/2018 - 09:25

Jay Bennett

From Popular Mechanics: The Federal Aviation Administration issued a Commercial Space Transportation License on Friday, February 2. It reads: Space Exploration Technologies is authorized to conduct: (i) A flight of the Falcon Heavy launch vehicle from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) transporting the modified Tesla Roadster (mass simulator) to a hyperbolic orbit. In other words: The SpaceX Falcon Heavy is ready to fly. Read more...

Off

Traditional

White