I arrived at Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) on 8 September to tour the facility and interview its Falcon 9 programme integrator and senior mission manager
In the foreground is the second Falcon 9 first-stage under construction and in the background the third Falcon 9 first-stage. The first-stage at the company's Texas testing ground is likely to be used for the fit checks at Cape Canaveral's space launch complex (SLC)-40 in December
This is the company's first composite Falcon 9 interstage, note how small the guy on the right hand side of the picture is in comparison
This is Space Exploration Technologies' electromagnetic interference (EMI) chamber with SpaceX nicely spelt out on the special panels that these rooms need
More images, including Dragon tomorrow
on September 9, 2008 6:55 PM | Reply
Mr. Musk is a hero of mine (alongside Mr. Branson) but with over a year between each Falcon 1 launch and a single pad for the 9, their ambitious schedule really has lost credibility at this point. Mr. Musk needs to listen to his wonderfully talented staff and set clearer goals before they strap a Falcon to a human being. There's no subsitute for flight experience and if they look at it realistically, what kind of launch rates can they truly expect from the pads they've been relegated to? They have to reckon with this sooner or later.
Good story, though (the Lab piece). Hope you enjoyed the tour.
on September 9, 2008 10:49 PM | Reply
Nice pictures.
From the considerable depth of the interstage and the flatness of the first stage top, the second stage Merlin must have a huge nozzle extension.
It takes some expertise to build those big composite parts. I wonder how and where it is cured.