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It's also worth mentioning that the Raptor engine is meant to use fuel made in ISRU systems on Mars. Most (nearly all?) components of Methane fuel for the Rapto
by cryptoz 7y ago
It's also worth mentioning that the Raptor engine is meant to use fuel made in ISRU systems on Mars. Most (nearly all?) components of Methane fuel for the Raptor can be extracted from the Martian soil, rocks, atmosphere, etc. A primary design consideration for Raptor was that it should enable Mars missions, and Mars missions are nearly impossible to do without manufacturing your fuel on location, so Raptor is ISRU-first with a Methane fuel.
Everything SpaceX does is moving towards a goal of enabling a colony of 1M+ people on Mars as soon as possible. A lot of people are confused by SpaceX decisions, but if you view it through the lens of Mars colonization, then it all usually makes more sense.
I think Raptor might be the first Methane-based rocket engine as well.
- avmich 7y ago> I think Raptor might be the first Methane-based rocket engine as well. If I remember correctly, John Carmack's Armadillo Aerospace tried burning methane in an engine. Though I don't think they were the only team - or even the first one.
- justAnotherNET 7y ago*to fly
- rst 7y agoWikipedia lists a few methane/LOX engines that have been used in test flights. For example, NASA's experimental Morpheus lander had fifteen or so test flights -- all low altitude, but some higher and longer lasting than StarHopper's hop today. It's also being developed simultaneously with Blue Origin's BE-4 engine, which hasn't flown yet, but has been through an extensive ground test program, and will be used on both Blue's own New Glenn orbital rocket and on ULA's Vulcan. So depending on how quickly the relevant test programs go, Raptor may or may not wind up being the first to be part of an orbital vehicle. (But as neither Vulcan nor New Glenn is currently slated to use it for the second stage, Raptor will very likely be the first to go all the way to orbit.)
- sebazzz 7y agoHow can methane be created on Mars? It is a gas right, and it isn't that cold there?
- agildehaus 7y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabatier_reaction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabatier_reaction
- MPSimmons 7y agoMethane is CH4. Carbon from Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and Hydrogen from Water (H2O). Stoichiometrically, CO2 + (2)H2O -> CH4 + (2)O2 The process is performed via the Sabatier Reaction, which someone else linked to.
- JshWright 7y agoIt's a gas at STP here on Earth. It's a liquid when it's being used as a rocket fuel.