From: arocket-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:arocket-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On ;
Behalf Of Craig Fink
Sent: Tuesday, 9 July 2019 11:57 PM
To: arocket@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [AR] Re: Orion Abort Test Failure...
Yes, Helium would work too, a great propellant but pretty much a dead end as a
fuel. The first time I heard about using a rocket to reduce drag was back in
the 1980s in a conversation about someone at JSC who wanted to do it back in
the 1970s. Fifty years and nobody has actually done it? Do you have a copy of
this professor's paper? I'd like to read it to see if he actually understands
the part about removing the Sound Barrier and what the Subsonic Hydrogen flow
field would behave like in a Supersonic Tunnel of Air? I have many more
interesting question on top of that.
Hydrogen does not spontaneously combust in air. I was NOT talking about
igniting the Hydrogen,
Well, you might have little choice. If (as Doug shared) the minimum ignition
energy (MIE) of a hydrogen/air mixture is only 0.019 mJ; that should roughly
translate to a… well… not incredibly high specific stagnation enthalpy
threshold to initiate … well… party mode.
Troy
