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SpaceX has fire-tested Falcon 9 rocket’s engines to prepare it for the launch scheduled on February 18.
STATES CHRONICLE – SpaceX tested the engines of Falcon 9 rocket at KSD Pad 39A. On February 12, when SpaceX test-fired the Falcon 9 rocket, Nine Merlin engines were fired, pushing up to about two million pounds of thrust. After the test fire, a plume of smoke invaded the Kennedy Space Center’s launch pad 39A. SpaceX prepares for a space mission which will happen next weekend.
The Merlin 1D engines of the craft located on its first stage were set to fire for approximately 3.5 seconds. They reached full power with about 1.7 million pounds of thrust. During this time, the Falcon 9 craft remained stranded to the launching pad. Those present at the Kennedy Space Center witnessed the tests and reported visible venting of vapors of liquid oxygen from the ship during the static fire test.
After this, a white cloud of smoke raised from the north side of the pad 39a when the Merlin engines fired at 4:30 p.m. A few minutes later, SpaceX claimed that the static fire test was accomplished. Engineers were analyzing data which was gathered when the engines of Falcon 9 were tested.
Each engine’s sensors were bound to measure performance parameters during the testing at the KSD Pad 39A. Specialists used hold-down restraints to keep the craft on the ground. The fire test represented the first time after an extended period when a ship ignited at Kennedy Space Center’s launching pad 39A since July 8, 2011. The launch complex was not used for three years.
Recently, SpaceX has signed a twenty-year lease to have access to this launching pad in 2014. This static fire test represents a significant progress leading the space company to their first launch from KSD Pad 39A. The Falcon 9 rocket was scheduled to be launched on February 18, carrying a Dragon supply cargo of 5, 266 pounds.
The load contains experiments and equipment which are to be sent to the International Space Station. If Falcon 9 will set off for the ISS on Saturday, February 18, then the Dragon craft will reach the International Space Station on February 20. This will be the first resupply launch conducted by SpaceX since July 2016, before the accident with the Falcon 9 rocket on the Complex 40 launching pad.
Image courtesy of: wikipedia
