The old Falcon 9 rockets fired their engines ignite imaginations

Ten days before Christmas 2017, a Falcon 9 rocket propelled a Dragon spacecraft into orbit. The first stage then performed a series of engine burns and landed safely along the Florida coast. The kernel has remained in storage ever since.

In the absence of an expensive and tedious renovation, this 9 "full propulsion Falcon rocket will never fly into space again. SpaceX prefers to use its new "Block 5" version of the Falcon 9, which incorporates lessons learned from the reuse of previous flights, such as those that this rocket core had made. The work of this rocket was apparently finished.

But William Harris, president and CEO of the Space Center Houston, thought he knew the possibility that rockets like this one could still serve the aerospace business, albeit in a different way. Although such a Falcon 9 rocket can no longer fire, it could still ignite the enthusiasm of young people.

"Our goal with Space Center Houston is really to learn [and] to excite the public on space exploration, "Harris said in an interview. It was an opportunity to do exactly that. "

Last year, Harris went to SpaceX's headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif., And asked the company if it would consider donating a Falcon 9 rocket from time to time. at the Houston facility, which is the official visitor center of the Johnson Space Center. The Houston Space Center is the first tourist destination in the Houston area, Harris told the company.

The rocket would allow the museum to educate visitors about what is happening in space now, in addition to the past. And displaying a Falcon 9 rocket would allow SpaceX to share its vision of the future of spaceflight, with reusable boosters at a lower cost.

It turns out that SpaceX was interested. The company would be happy to donate the rocket that flew the 11th and 13th supply missions to the International Space Station, said officials at Harris. This core also has historical weight, as it is the first Falcon 9 rocket that NASA has agreed to fly a second time.

The Houston Space Center hopes to take over the amplifier this summer and immediately display it horizontally near the museum entrance. Exactly when the installation receives the reminder, it is SpaceX. "We are a bit dependent on them when they are ready to carry it," Harris said. "They have a lot of things on their plate, of course."

This type of interaction with museums is a novelty for SpaceX, as it has always focused on launching rockets into space, not into museums. Harris said the company was generous in hiring its employees in some projects to move the Falcon 9 core and help the Houston museum design exhibitions.

The rocket will be displayed as is, complete with marked marks due to atmospheric reentry and ignition of the engine. Initially, the rocket will be elevated horizontally, nearly four meters above the ground, allowing visitors to walk around and under the vehicle. (In a nice touch, the bridge will have the shape of the SpaceX logo). Eventually, maybe in about a year, Harris reportedly said the Falcon 9 would be displayed vertically. But this will require additional engineering work to secure the rocket safely, especially given Houston's propensity for hurricanes and other types of extreme weather.

Currently, a Falcon 9 rocket already in use is exposed in only one place in the world: in front of the SpaceX headquarters. Later that year, Harris said he hoped that other museums across the United States could also acquire Falcon 9 booster packs on occasion. Thus, by displaying one horizontally, the Houston Space Center has a good chance of being the first site after the SpaceX factory.

The wet climate of the city of Bayou does not determine the durability of the rocket in the elements. Over time, Harris said the museum will perform its usual conservation work to ensure that the core of the Falcon 9 remains in perfect condition. He predicts that it will quickly become one of the biggest attractions of the Houston Space Center.

"SpaceX is doing a great job on marketing their launches with their webcasts," Harris said. "We are confident that people will want to come and see one of these rockets up close and personal."

We are quite confident in that too.

Registration Image by Space Center Houston