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Wow, those images are gorgeous. "We were warned by our NASA escort to not touch our faces after handling equipment coated in the solid rocket exhaust and to wa

Wow, those images are gorgeous. "We were warned by our NASA escort to not touch our faces after handling equipment coated in the solid rocket exhaust and to wash our hands ASAP after arriving back at the KSC Press Site." Next picture: touches exhaust residue with bare hands. Please, use gloves! "Using a glass filter triples the area that dew can form prior to liftoff." A-ha, it is time to start building heated glass filters for rocket photography enthusiasts!

wlesieutre 9y ago
"Dew heaters" are already a thing! http://philhart.com/content/dew-heaters-night-sky-photography http://philhart.com/content/dew-heaters-night-sky-photograph... https://www.amazon.com/COOWOO-Warmer-Heater-Universal-Telescopes/dp/B01MR2J4NK https://www.amazon.com/COOWOO-Warmer-Heater-Universal-Telesc... From the reddit thread where the photographer posted this, they're planning to get some: https://www.reddit.com/r/photography/comments/81fu6u/the_results_of_placing_a_fisheye_lens_just_over/dv2yu3w/?context=1 https://www.reddit.com/r/photography/comments/81fu6u/the_res...
alex_hitchins 9y ago
What would the substances have been on the glass? I assume it would be something nasty but my chemistry is poor. Also, do workers wear haz-mat suits when working in the area? I'd guess there is a lot of the same stuff on the ground/atmosphere that could be inhaled. The ecological damage of launches is something I should really look more in to.
- packetized 9y ago
  HTPB, unburnt ammonium perchlorate, aluminum powder. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroxyl-terminated_polybutadiene https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroxyl-terminated_polybutadi...
  - ridgeguy 9y ago
    And the combustion products include lots of water and hydrogen chloride, which combine to form hydrochloric acid. The gritty aluminum oxide (another combustion product) is probably a pretty good particulate sponge for holding acid as it cools below HCl's condensation point.
    - alex_hitchins 9y ago
      Thanks both for the reply. Is the Aluminimum oxide forming part of a thermite style reaction then?
      - Taniwha 9y ago
        only to the extend that the Al powder in the motor is burning in the O2 released from the perchlorate, it'[s not an exchange like a traditional thermite Essentially they add Al because it burns well and has a high mass which ups the mass of the exhaust gasses and as a result gives you more thrust
      - tropo 9y ago
        Somewhat yes. Iron oxide is included, but considered a catalyst. The rubbery plastic binder is a fuel. The Aluminum is a high-energy fuel. The "ammonium" part of ammonium perchlorate is a fuel, and the "perchlorate" part is an oxidizer. The amount of aluminum is limited to prevent the temperature from getting too high and because it makes low-energy exhaust particles. Good exhaust particles are low-mass gasses with few degrees of freedom in the molecular shape. Aluminum oxide forms solid particles consisting of many atoms stuck together, which is pretty useless.
- refurb 9y ago
  My understanding is post-shuttle launch, the ponds around the launch pad end up with a pH of ~1, due to the hydrochloride acid released. Not of any life form that can survive that.

wlesieutre 9y ago

"Dew heaters" are already a thing! http://philhart.com/content/dew-heaters-night-sky-photography http://philhart.com/content/dew-heaters-night-sky-photograph... https://www.amazon.com/COOWOO-Warmer-Heater-Universal-Telescopes/dp/B01MR2J4NK https://www.amazon.com/COOWOO-Warmer-Heater-Universal-Telesc... From the reddit thread where the photographer posted this, they're planning to get some: https://www.reddit.com/r/photography/comments/81fu6u/the_results_of_placing_a_fisheye_lens_just_over/dv2yu3w/?context=1 https://www.reddit.com/r/photography/comments/81fu6u/the_res...

alex_hitchins 9y ago

What would the substances have been on the glass? I assume it would be something nasty but my chemistry is poor. Also, do workers wear haz-mat suits when working in the area? I'd guess there is a lot of the same stuff on the ground/atmosphere that could be inhaled. The ecological damage of launches is something I should really look more in to.

packetized 9y ago
HTPB, unburnt ammonium perchlorate, aluminum powder. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroxyl-terminated_polybutadiene https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroxyl-terminated_polybutadi...
- ridgeguy 9y ago
  And the combustion products include lots of water and hydrogen chloride, which combine to form hydrochloric acid. The gritty aluminum oxide (another combustion product) is probably a pretty good particulate sponge for holding acid as it cools below HCl's condensation point.
  - alex_hitchins 9y ago
    Thanks both for the reply. Is the Aluminimum oxide forming part of a thermite style reaction then?
    - Taniwha 9y ago
      only to the extend that the Al powder in the motor is burning in the O2 released from the perchlorate, it'[s not an exchange like a traditional thermite Essentially they add Al because it burns well and has a high mass which ups the mass of the exhaust gasses and as a result gives you more thrust
    - tropo 9y ago
      Somewhat yes. Iron oxide is included, but considered a catalyst. The rubbery plastic binder is a fuel. The Aluminum is a high-energy fuel. The "ammonium" part of ammonium perchlorate is a fuel, and the "perchlorate" part is an oxidizer. The amount of aluminum is limited to prevent the temperature from getting too high and because it makes low-energy exhaust particles. Good exhaust particles are low-mass gasses with few degrees of freedom in the molecular shape. Aluminum oxide forms solid particles consisting of many atoms stuck together, which is pretty useless.
refurb 9y ago
My understanding is post-shuttle launch, the ponds around the launch pad end up with a pH of ~1, due to the hydrochloride acid released. Not of any life form that can survive that.