Posted on 12/28/2017 9:01:16 AM PST by BenLurkin
SpaceX’s first Falcon Heavy rocket, made up of two previously-flown Falcon 9 boosters and a beefed up central core stage, made the trip to launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and was raised vertical Thursday for testing ahead of its first liftoff next month.
The fully-assembled 229-foot-tall (70-meter) rocket will be the most powerful in the world when it blasts off, and Thursday’s arrival atop pad 39A marks a major step toward readying the Falcon Heavy for flight.
SpaceX engineers are expected to conduct a fit check and complete other tests at pad 39A this week, followed by a hold-down firing of all 27 first stage engines some time after New Year’s Day. The company has not set a target date for the Falcon Heavy’s first liftoff, but officials say the launch is targeted in January, some time after the hold-down hotfire test.
...
When it blasts off next month, the heavy-lifter will generate about 4.7 million pounds of thrust at launch. Musk said the first Falcon Heavy’s engines will be throttled to 92 percent of full power.
That will make the Falcon Heavy the most powerful rocket flying today, exceeding the European Ariane 5 launcher, the world’s leader in liftoff power at 2.9 million pound of thrust from two segmented solid rocket boosters and a core engine. SpaceX’s new rocket will produce more thrust than any launch vehicle since the space shuttle.
The Falcon Heavy will also be able to carry more payload into orbit than any other rocket in the world, a more important measure of the rocket’s lifting capacity.
(Excerpt) Read more at spaceflightnow.com ...
As an aside, the Saturn V was 363 ft tall and weighed 6.2 million pounds.
Of course it had a target much farther away.
The Saturn V had twice the lifting capacity of this one.
140 tons to low-earth orbit vs 140,000 lbs.
Let hope they don’t screw the puppy
I thought 39A had been demolished.
Saturn V (first stage) had 7.5 million pounds of thrust from its five Saturn engines. But it wasn’t trying for mere orbital velocity; it had to push a payload to escape velocity.
Musk keeps on delivering...
https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/08/05/shuttle-era-structure-dismantled-piece-by-piece-at-pad-39a/
Apparently, just a certain structure.
Based on a couple of earlier posts, how can they clam the Falcon Heavy is the most powerful ever? I don’t get it.
Dang! Three and a half football fields high! I had forgotten how big this puppy was.
Not quite. 63 ft. taller than a football field.
You were playing on short football fields then.
363 FEET not yards.
That’s actually not correct. The Saturn V only had to get the package up to about half the altitude of today’s Space Station, where it then spent about 2 hours in orbit before firing it’s third stage engines to escape earth. And during that orbit evolution, it was traveling about the same speed as the space shuttle.
And now they claim the SLS that comes on line in about a year or so will be heavier lift than a Saturn V.
payload to lunar trajectory is about 17,000 kg
Mars is 16,000 kg
Saturn V had 50,000 kg to lunar
Oops! Still big. More coffee on the way.
Most powerful operational rocket at the present time, not most powerful ever.
363 FEET = 121 YARDS
Isn’t this carrying the Tesla Roadster?
Supposed to, I guess. Musk thinks he can get it up to escape velocity.
I wonder if it’s really just the chassis and body.
It is really astonishing how much is and has been going on in this area of endeavor. Wikipedia’s article on “Commercial Crew Development” makes this clear, although parts of the article are in need of updating...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commercial_Crew_Development
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