Hi all. - Thought this was interesting.......
McGregor TX – Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (_SpaceX_ (http://www.spacex.com/index.php) ) conducted the first nine engine firing of its _Falcon 9_ (http://www.spacex.com/falcon9.php) launch vehicle at its Texas Test Facility outside McGregor on July 31st. A second firing on August 1st completed a major NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) milestone almost two months early. At full power, the nine engines consumed 3,200 lbs of fuel and liquid oxygen per second, and generated 832,000 pounds of force (lbf) – four times the maximum thrust of a 747 aircraft. SpaceX is developing a family of launch vehicles intended to increase the reliability and reduce the cost of both manned and unmanned space transportation, ultimately by a factor of ten. With its Falcon line of launch vehicles, powered by internally-developed _Merlin_ (http://www.spacex.com/falcon1.php#merlin_engine) engines, SpaceX offers light, medium and heavy lift capabilities to deliver spacecraft into any altitude and inclination, from low-Earth orbit to geosynchronous Full report at. _http://www.spacex.com/press.php?page=44b_ (http://www.spacex.com/press.php?page=44b)