Friday, June 04, 2010

Good luck to spacex.

I'm eagerly awaiting the spacex web-cast to watch the first F9 flight.
I sincerely hope they have a perfect flight.
It is a new rocket on a first flight so a perfect flight is unlikely.
If they have a problem it will most likely be something they could not test on the ground.
If I were to guess my biggest worries would be:

  • First stage pogo oscillation, the Saturn V had significant issues with this.
  • 2nd Stage ignition in vacuum, the first stage Merlin's have a fair bit of ground side support equipment, so the air start is a differnt beast. (The first hotfire scrub was do to an incorrect valve in GSE) A turbo pumped motor is a complex piece and getting the whole choior singing in tune on the first attempt in vacuum is tricky.

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