3 ms·
Isn’t helium already used to push fuel into the pumps?
by dogma1138 6y ago
Isn’t helium already used to push fuel into the pumps?
- senectus1 6y agoI think that was part of the problem with the last launch. it started to burn some of the helium which caused issues.
- hooper 6y agoI think it's more to maintain pressure in the tank, in cases where the remaining fuel doesn't vaporize sufficiently on its own (autogenous pressurization). Otherwise, I guess atmospheric pressure or compressive force from the engines/payload could crush the tank. In the case of Starship, the fuel is moved by turbo pumps, which are integrated with the engine, and are powered by burning some of the fuel (there's a diagram of this at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_Raptor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_Raptor).