SpaceX and the Russian Rocket Mess

Wall St Journal ^ | June 12, 2015 | Holman W. Jenkins, Jr.

[PIF]

Missed in this is SpaceX is concidering using nuclear thermal propulsion for Mars missions - specifically a NERVA type engine which needs no further testing on Earth.

This badly made graphic shows the gereral direction of their engine road map:

[SunkenCiv]

Same here. The speculation is, three of the nine-engine Falcon 9 boosters will be launched as the Falcon 9 Heavy sometime in 2015; the Merlin 4 engine was going to be a scaled-up kerosene burner, but the plug got pulled on that last year or so, and it’s going to be scaled-up, but a methane burner (same thing is going on at Blue Origin). This grew out of Musk’s goal of recycling the boosters which will eventually carry colonists to Mars — methane is available to refuel them, kerosene isn’t.

One Merlin 4 will replace the nine engines of the Falcon 9; a nine-engine booster using the Merlin 4 will be the next gen; a three-booster superheavy will be used for the Mars colonization. The timeframe is about a generation, twenty years. Meanwhile, barring political obstacles (corruption), SpaceX is likely to take over much of the world’s launch business.

[SunkenCiv]

I wholeheartedly agree. He’s one good consequence of the overthrow of the Boer regime in South Africa. Uh, the only one I can think of.

[Koracan]

....SpaceX and the Russian Rocket Mess>>>

The Soviet Union & now Russia always had a strong vision for space flight, despite the present 'mess', it pays now.




Antonov An-225 Mriya with Russian shuttle Buran in taxi, the World's Largest Plane

[SunkenCiv]

I like how SpaceX works quickly but doesn’t push just to meet a schedule. They’ve been in business a ridiculously short time, and have cut cost to orbit, becoming the cheapest way up and still making money.

http://www.spacex.com/falcon-heavy

> With the ability to lift into orbit over 53 metric tons (117,000 lb)—a mass equivalent to a 737 jetliner loaded with passengers, crew, luggage and fuel—Falcon Heavy can lift more than twice the payload of the next closest operational vehicle, the Delta IV Heavy, at one-third the cost.

Falcon Heavy rocket hangar rises at launch pad 39A
http://spaceflightnow.com/2015/02/25/falcon-heavy-rocket-hangar-rises-at-pad-39a/

> the hangar sits on the gravel crawlerway used to transport Saturn 5 moon rockets and space shuttles from the nearby Vehicle Assembly building

Falcon Heavy into production as Pad 39A HIF rises out of the ground [former Shuttle pad]
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2015/02/falcon-heavy-production-39a-hif-rises/

SpaceX Begins Falcon Heavy Certification
http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/air-space/space/2015/04/15/spacex-air-force-falcon-9-certification-ula-delta-heavy/25825053/

> The certification process for SpaceX has been a difficult one, particularly after accusations from SpaceX founder Elon Musk that the Air Force was purposefully slow-rolling the process in order to protect legacy provider ULA.

[SunkenCiv]

Jupiter-247 Heavy
http://www.directlauncher.org/documents/Baseball_Cards/J247H-41.5003.08001_EDS_090608.jpg

[gaijin]

Later bookmark

[<1/1,000,000th%]

I’m so silly. ;)