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+--- Thread: McGregor Stuff (/thread-12164.html)
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McGregor Stuff - Yazata - May 1, 2022
Here's a new 24/7 live cam of the SpaceX rocket engine test stands at McGregor. It's split screen and shows a panorama of the whole site, plus closeups of the various test stands.
The problem is that while they test frequently during the day, they don't announce their test schedule, so much of the time not much is visibly happening. And they apparently have a quiet time at night when they don't fire rocket engines in order not to disturb nearby residents. (It's a rural area in the vicinity of Waco but there are people around. Closest is probably the Army's Fort Hood to the west.)
I'm told (not 100% sure that it's true) that some of the cattle at McGregor belong to SpaceX and are tended by SpaceX cowboys! The explanation is said to be a Texas tax law that gives tax advantages to ranches (it's Texas!). So SpaceX runs cattle on their property in order to qualify as being a ranch. (That's the story anyway, true or not.)
RE: McGregor Stuff - Yazata - May 12, 2022
Those who watch McGregor report that two Raptor engines have exploded on the test stand in the last two days. It isn't clear why this happened, but it's likely that these engines are being run at redline to better understand their performance envelope. So they may or may not have been tests-to-destruction.
Video of the second explosion.
https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight/status/1524105718390935553
RE: McGregor Stuff - Yazata - May 18, 2022
Latest from McGregor is a Vacuum Raptor in the horizontal test stand running for six minutes (360 seconds)! That's impressive, but the upper stage RVacs will need to be able to perform long burns necessary to put Starships in orbit.
They are making progress.
https://twitter.com/KSpaceAcademy/status/1526991303107657729
RE: McGregor Stuff - Yazata - May 19, 2022
Sorta goofy McGregor video
RE: McGregor Stuff - Yazata - Jun 10, 2022
What may or may not be a new Raptor record, a ~385 second (6.42 minute) burn. At least it's the longest test fire yet observed on the McGregor cams.
https://twitter.com/nextspaceflight/status/1535069267741114369
RE: McGregor Stuff - Yazata - Jul 17, 2022
Graphic from Tim Dodd comparing the Raptor 1 and Raptor 2 engines.
![[Image: FXmRDxbWYAcPCUJ?format=jpg&name=4096x4096]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FXmRDxbWYAcPCUJ?format=jpg&name=4096x4096)
Tim doesn't mention it, but besides the performance advantages outlined here (lighter & more powerful), the Raptor 2 is also said to be easier to manufacture, thus more amenable to mass production.
Elon replied with
Most importantly, we need to delete or thermally protect remaining secondary structure, so we can remove shrouds
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1547478741655228416
and
All mass necessitated by an engine design should count as engine mass, eg shrouds, TVC hydraulic power or excess purge gas.
Raptors in production now have electric TVC, saving over a ton of hydraulics mass on booster.
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1547759390513512455
Chris Bergin posted this short video of impressive Raptor engine TVC action on the Tripod at McGregor
https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1548300668170948609
RE: McGregor Stuff - Yazata - Sep 15, 2022
Space Cows!
The story (it may or may not be true) is that SpaceX runs cattle on its McGregor property because Texas law gives a tax advantage to ranchers.
But for whatever reason, McGregor is home of the SpaceX Space cows. The cows graze near the McGregor test stands where they have grown accustomed to rocket engine test firing happening near them and even the occasional explosion.
RE: McGregor Stuff - Yazata - May 13, 2023
Elon has announced that a version 3 Raptor has achieved 350 bar chamber pressure in a 64 second burn on the Tripod at McGregor. This equates to 269 tons of thrust from a single engine. A Starship booster has 33 engines, which totals 8877 tons of thrust.
He added:
"To be frank, we did not expect the engine to survive a full-duration run at that pressure. It is uncharted territory."
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1657249739925258240
![[Image: Fv-71ShakAIJlUe?format=jpg&name=900x900]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fv-71ShakAIJlUe?format=jpg&name=900x900)
RE: McGregor Stuff - Yazata - May 15, 2023
"Raptor chamber wall might have had the highest heat flux of anything ever made."
At least anything that wasn't immediately vaporized by the heat it produces, like nuclear weapons.
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1657254777691185152
Video by NASASpaceflight.com
https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1657256725362233344
RE: McGregor Stuff - Yazata - Aug 18, 2023
Meanwhile at McGregor...
Zack asked what the purpose of this long-duration highly-gimballed burn was, and Elon said simulating landing burn at full gimbal angle.
https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1692260577866092863