Booster 9 - Successful Static Fire

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHxKhpFUOuo

2.7 second long static fire with 4 premature shutdown Raptor engines.

46 points · 9 comments · view on lemmy.world

9 Comments

burble@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 10 pts · 3y (6 replies)

The engine shutdowns and early test end aren't my favorite if Booster 9 is still supposed to be used for the next orbital test flight.

yak@lmy.brx.io · 9 pts · 3y (1 reply)

Waiting to find out the reasons for the premature shutdowns, and for pics of the steel plates...

Great to see the test campaign swing back into action!

burble@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 6 pts · 3y

I'm hoping this test was mostly for the deluge system, not the booster, so they were running with extra safe engine shutdown limits. That's just blind hope, though.

BorgDrone@lemmy.one · 7 pts · 3y (3 replies)

On the other hand, the whole point of testing is to find these issues and fix them before the real flight.

I wonder if they will do another test before orbital.

burble@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 3y (2 replies)

I mean, I get the hardware rich testing mindset, but I thought the engine design was supposed to be stabilizing and getting more reliable. You have to admit that losing 4 engines in under 3 seconds isn't great.

BorgDrone@lemmy.one · 3 pts · 3y

Yeah, it’s not exactly ideal. Let’s hope the root cause isn’t a big issue.

BasketKees@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 3y

Engine design is not stabilising yet, they are still pushing performance. Raptor 3s are now rolling off the line which again have increased performance. They also target a reduction in complexity with each iteration which should in the end increase reliability. But reliability itself is a later target once the design is mostly settled.

yak@lmy.brx.io · 8 pts · 3y
collegefurtrader@discuss.tchncs.de · 7 pts · 3y

Glorious! I can’t wait for pics of the pad