Tour of SpaceX Falcon 9 launch pad SLC-40 during Air Force Week 2010 at Cape Canaveral
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Scott Henderson, SpaceX Director of Mission Assurance, takes us on a tour of Space Launch Complex 40, the company's launch pad for its Falcon 9 rocket. The tour starts with Mr. Henderson's introduction on the bus driving onto the complex. We then get out of the bus and tour the launch pad itself. The strongback was in its raised position, as it is on launch day, for some testing. This tour was part of Air Force Week media day events, hosted by the 45th Spcae Wing at Patrick AFB in Florida. Air Force Week celebrates the accomplishments and work done by the United States Air Force in defense of the country. This year, Patrick is one of two installations to host Air Force Week and highlights space-related activities at Patrick, Cape Canaveral and Kennedy Space Center.
Comments
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@ugowar Ah yes, reading comprehension demerits for me, sorry. I suppose it would be a cute trick, since there aren't any solar arrays or radiators.
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@zaitcev I think you misunderstood me. A typical Dragon stack (both the pressure vessel + trunk) would normally separate from the F9 US upon insertion and then the pressure vessel would itself separate from the trunk before reentry. I'm saying there are hints that the trunk will be bolted (non-separable) to the F9 US on this flight and that only the capsule section will separate and maneuver around.
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@ugowar The flight with an non-separating engineering unit has occured already. The COTS Demo-1 flight, upcoming on NET Dec 7 2010, includes a Dragon spacecraft intended to separate, deorbit, and splash down.
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@silverad0 AFAIK, the 2nd Dragon to fly will actually be the fully functional unit, including solar panels - first one is battery-powered. There are indications that the 1st Dragon isn't even supposed to separate from the F9 upper stage with the trunk attached, i.e. the separation plane would be pressurized vessel - trunk and the trunk would stay bolted to the upper stage. Not sure about this, though.
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Thanks a lot for this, nice little tour.
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I wonder if AF payloads my fly on Falcon from SLC-40 one day.
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