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There was no or very little monomethylhydrazine released. If there was, it would have reacted with the nitrogen tetroxide. Since it's hypergolic, it doesn't nee
by MertsA 8y ago
There was no or very little monomethylhydrazine released. If there was, it would have reacted with the nitrogen tetroxide. Since it's hypergolic, it doesn't need to be under high temperatures or pressures to react. Just the two substances coming into contact will cause them to react.
- Someone 8y agoExplosions tend to disperse material in uncontrolled ways, so I doubt the two substances got mixed perfectly. Chances are not all monomethylhydrazine reacted with the nitrogen tetroxide.
- perl4ever 8y agoThe complexity of internal combustion engines and their emissions control seems to support the idea that perfectly reacting two substances is very difficult even when all of your machinery is working nominally.
- MertsA 8y agoUnfortunately I can't edit the previous comment anymore but you're right. Originally I was under the assumption that the conjecture that the propellant valve failed or started leaking upstream from it was correct. However, it appears that the entire vehicle exploded before the SuperDraco test even started. Since it wasn't just leaking out of a damaged engine, my assumptions about roughly complete mixing were wrong. There's very little chance that there wasn't a decent amount of MMH released as well.