What are those things spraying something at the pad during the beginning of a Falcon 9 launch?
Asked
Active
Viewed 1,603 times
4
-
I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because the image linked does not exist and there's almost no textual description. – Nathan Tuggy Feb 24 '18 at 03:20
-
1@NathanTuggy I replaced with working link. – mckap325 Feb 24 '18 at 03:22
2 Answers
6
It is a sound suppression system like the one developed by NASA for the Space Shuttle in the 1980s. It was required to keep the sound level below the required 145 dB. See: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/launch/sound-suppression-system.html
On launch pad 39A in Cape Canaveral, a water tower dumps 300,000 gallons of water in less than a minute during take off. I am not certain of the specs (gallons and noise levels) on this particular launchpad.
See question: "What is the purpose of the jets of water often under rocket engines during launch?"
Dan Sorensen
- 3,551
- 3
- 25
- 44
1
Water-deluge systems have long been a common part of large rocket launches. It supplies sound suppression for the launch and also prevents the back-blast from the engines from critically damaging the launch pad or rebounding from the pad back into the rocket itself.
TCAT117
- 473
- 3
- 8