We realize we’re suckers for these videos. But when the simple act of filming an impressive rocket flight looks so damned impressive, it’s hard to blow it off as just another video from SpaceX. This time the company’s Grasshopper test vehicle flies to yet another record height of 2,440 feet above SpaceX’s McGregor, Texas test facility. And once again it was filmed using a hexacopter mounted with a high-def camera.
The flight took place on October 7, with engineers continuing to fine tune the vertical take off and landing rocket. The hexacopter operator is doing some fine tuning as well, getting closer than ever before, and as the Grasshopper descends, the hexacopter converges with the flight path before filming the landing from nearly directly above the rocket.
There is also a noticeable secondary flame during part of the descent from the turbopump, which is located on the side of the main engine. In addition to operating as a high pressure fuel and oxidizer pump for the Merlin engine, the turbopump is also used to provide high pressure kerosene as a hydraulic fluid for the thrust vectoring controls. For the Falcon 9′s second stage engine, the thrust from the turbopump plume also provides roll control.
The Grasshopper test program is part of SpaceX’s plan to create a reusable first stage rocket engine for the Falcon 9. Currently, the first stage of the rocket, like all rockets before it, falls back to earth and effectively crash lands into the ocean. SpaceX wants to carry a little extra propellant on board the Falcon 9 so that the first stage can return to earth in a controlled flight, land, and be refurbished for future flights, saving cash.