secor77 Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 (edited) Hello. My name is Roger Pink and I'm a physicist and a science writer. This is an article I wrote on the SpaceX Falcon 9. If you're interested, please give it a read and let me know what you think below in the comments here. SpaceX Falcon 9 Here is an excerpt: The current Falcon 9, known as the Falcon 9 v1.1, introduced several improvements. It is heavier at 1,115,200 pounds and taller at 224 feet, though it still measures 12 feet in diameter. The extra height and weight are due to the additional fuel required by its nine improved Merlin 1D engines that are arranged in what SpaceX calls an Octaweb configuration. In this configuration, eight of the nine engines are arranged in a circle with the ninth located in the center of the circle. SpaceX claims this configuration is more reliable, having been the preferred arrangement for NASA's Saturn I and Saturn V rockets. SpaceX claims that two of the nine engines can fail in this arrangement without endangering the overall mission. The more powerful engines result in higher specific impulse at sea level (282 seconds) with increased payloads of 28,990 pounds to LEO and 10,690 pounds to GTO. Just like the earlier v1.0, the v1.1 is a two-stage launch vehicle. The stage separation system was redesigned for v1.1 with the number of attachment points reduced from 12 to 3. The separation system uses pneumatics instead of traditional pyrotechnics for low-shock, high reliability separation that can be tested on the ground. Edited September 26, 2014 by RogerPink Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts