SpaceX’s new rocket motor (for propulsive landings, just like the ones in the scifi stories) has “shock diamonds” in its plume. The phenom was first seen in the 1950s in the exhaust plume of the Bell X-1, the first craft to fly faster than the speed of sound. The “diamonds” are more visible in this video of the motor’s recent test firing (below) in McGregor, Texas, just up the road from the rancho.
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Posted in Rancho Roly Poly, Science/Engineering, Space, Texana
Tagged Dragon spacecraft, shock diamonds, SpaceX, Super Draco
I’ve long thought that the only way we’ll ever get back to Luna to stay or go on to colonize Mars is via private company hardware and work. Here, a SpaceX crew readies the second-stage engine of their Falcon 9 rocket for a successful Jan. 2 test at their MacGregor facility up the road from Austin. The Falcon 9 was expected to fly last fall, lofting the company’s Dragon spacecraft to a rendezvous with the International Space Station. But it’s now expected to begin this spring. The liquid-fueled Falcon 9 and Dragon will replace NASA’s retiring space shuttle.
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Posted in Science/Engineering, Space, Texana
Tagged Dragon spacecraft, Falcon 9, SpaceX
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