4 ms·
I think that was the ignition system; the green flame matches. Which makes sense if they lost an engine, of course.
by Filligree 6y ago
I think that was the ignition system; the green flame matches. Which makes sense if they lost an engine, of course.
- remarkEon 6y agoWhat's the reason that the flame produced by the ignition system is green? Edit: ah, it's answered here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25366736 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25366736
- elteto 6y agoThat’s incorrect. Raptor does not use a TEA/TEB igniter like Falcon. It uses a spark igniter. The green flame here is unintended engine ablation :) The chamber was melting.
- ArPDent 6y agospecifically it's copper being vaporized i believe
- remarkEon 6y agoNice. Flashbacks to highschool chemistry. I'm assuming this isn't something you want to have happen ...
- SAI_Peregrinus 6y agoNo, engine-rich combustion cycles are definitely not something you usually want. Especially not on a re-usable craft.
- Gwypaas 6y agoThe merlin engine uses TEA-TEB which causes the green flame seen on Falcon 9. The raptor uses electric spark ignition, which is harder but doesn't require any awfully poisonous chemicals and you can't run out. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_Raptor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_Raptor
- grishka 6y agoNo, not that, I meant the moment when one of the three engines shut off mid air and then moved away a bit so the remaining ones point straight down.