Clark Lindsey at NewSpace Watch linked to a PopSci cutaway of SpaceX’s latest work-in-progress. It’s not new, but still cool:
OK, it’s Popular Science fanboy stuff but I love this kind of inside-y look.
And by the way, I was right about what “MCT” stood for! From Elon’s mind to my keyboard…
| “No near term plans to IPO @SpaceX. Only possible in very long term when Mars Colonial Transporter is flying regularly.” https://twitter.com/elonmusk |
The Chiles Files 
It’s such a bizarre claim.
“When the firm SpaceX launches its Falcon Heavy rocket into space late this year, the craft will become the mightiest rocket in the world. Only NASA’s Saturn V, which sent Americans to the moon, has ever generated more power. In rockets, the most important measure of power is thrust. Falcon Heavy’s 27 individual booster engines together generate 3.8 million pounds of thrust”
Yeah? One Shuttle SRB produced 2,800,000 lbf, and there was two of them on every launch. So even without counting the SSMEs, the Shuttle stack beats the Falcon Heavy.
The Energia NPO (the booster for the Russian shuttle) had four side boosters that produced 6,500,000 lbf each!
The current Ariane 5 ECA produces 3.2 million pounds of thrust, so that first claim may be correct.. except for the whole “late this year” thing. I doubt that will happen.
Well, it is PopSci after all…I find it’s a lot more enjoyable to just stare at the pretty pictures and look for actual information elsewhere.
I always figured Elon meant to say “liquid” in there somewhere.