[quote]Plan to launch a Falcon Heavy in 2015 and [B]manned launch[/B] 2016.[/quote]
[URL]https://twitter.com/ExploreSpaceKSC/status/455787911951036416[/URL]
Better source will come when it exists, this is brand new.
Another Source:
[quote]SpaceX hopes to launch a Falcon Heavy rocket from KSC in the first quarter of next year.[/quote]
[URL]http://www.floridatoday.com/story/tech/science/space/2014/04/14/spacex-takes-over-ksc-pad-39a/7711859/[/URL]
These are some concepts for future SpaceX rockets, ones similar to these will likely launch from 39A!
[img]http://rocketry.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/musk_rockets.jpg[/img]
Neat, I still have a chance to see a space launch in person some day.
For those that don't know why this is significant:
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/sZrKuJW.jpg[/IMG]
This is Launch Pad 39A. We flew Apollo 11 off of it, it flew the STS-135, the last Shuttle launch. SpaceX will use it to launch whatever behemoth they have planned for Mars. It's a little piece of space history.
do they get to use the massive crawler too?
For those who want to see this sexy beast:
[url]http://www.spacex.com/falcon-heavy[/url]
[QUOTE=Eltro102;44546392]do they get to use the massive crawler too?[/QUOTE]The crawlers are being rebuilt for SLS and SpaceX currently uses erectors to integrate the rocket and payload horizontally instead of vertically like in the VAB so there's no need for one at this moment.
[QUOTE=dije;44546410]The crawlers are being rebuilt for SLS and SpaceX currently uses erectors to integrate the rocket and payload horizontally instead of vertically like in the VAB so there's no need for one at this moment.[/QUOTE]
So the best option would to build a bigger crawler and put the VAB on that then
[QUOTE=Eltro102;44546392]do they get to use the massive crawler too?[/QUOTE]
i think they did get one, but idk why they would need it besides manned missions since everything they've built can be horizontally integrated, meaning they just need to truck it to the launch pad and lift it up, much better than the shuttle which required standing straight up the entire time
[editline]14th April 2014[/editline]
[QUOTE=BreenIsALie;44546545]So the best option would to build a bigger crawler and put the VAB on that then[/QUOTE]
not as farfetched as it seems
[t]http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/shuttle070111/s19_T9904906.jpg[/t]
had they ever launched from vandenberg thats exactly what they would have done, note that is enterprize, the shuttle that never was
[editline]14th April 2014[/editline]
whats a cool feature about the complex 39 launch pads?
[quote]Emergency evacuation system
Each pad had a 200-foot (61 m) evacuation tube running from the Mobile Launcher platform to a blast-resistant bunker 39 feet (12 m) underground, equipped with survival supplies for 20 persons for 24 hours. There was also a cab/slidewire system running from the 322-foot (98 m) tower level to evacuate astronauts and technicians 2,503 feet (763 m) away from the pad.[/quote]
just in case you're ready to launch and something on your fully fueled 4000 ton bomb lights on fire, you have a bunker under all that concrete built to withstand the entire thing crashing down ontop of you with enough air, food, and water inside for you to survive until the pad cools down enough for them to approach
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