4 ms·

Organic Chemistry is not rocket science. I haven't seen those videos, but if they are introductory subjects, 2 immersed weeks sound about enough to me. I'll tak

Organic Chemistry is not rocket science. I haven't seen those videos, but if they are introductory subjects, 2 immersed weeks sound about enough to me. I'll take a look at the videos today and see.

kragen 14y ago
Actually, as documented in Ignition!, a great deal of rocket science is, in fact, chemistry — and although the oxidizers are not usually organic, the fuels are.
- jlgreco 14y ago
  I would suggest that the chemistry parts of rocket science are some of the easier parts (how complicated can burning kerosene and LO2 be?), but I suspect I would piss off a few rocket scientists. ;)
  - microtherion 14y ago
    Read Ignition!. It is, in fact, fairly difficult to find a combination of fuels that ignite exactly in the manner one wants them to, in a reasonable range of temperatures, and can be stored without decomposing or eating the storage container.
    - jlgreco 14y ago
      I think I will check that out. Thanks!
    - kragen 14y ago
      Of course, today, in large part thanks to a large number of people who died horrible deaths investigating this during the time period documented in Ignition!, it's not hard at all. But it was sure hard until the 1960s.
  - kragen 14y ago
    Apparently, it's not the complexity that kills you. It's the unexpected explosions (who knew titanium could be explosive?), the deadly poisons, and the times where you discover that the oxidizer tanks for all the rockets you manufactured seven years ago are leaking fuming nitric acid, and you haven't changed the design in seven years. The solution for that problem was truly astonishing.
- ninguem2 14y ago
  Rocket science is not "rocket science". The expression has been coined as part of a propaganda campaign for the US public to accept a Nazi war criminal (Wernher von Braun) in an important post on the US government.
  - hga 14y ago
    Maybe it's not "science", but it's horribly complicated, with then new vibration modes up the wazoo, and look up the fun efforts that were required to F1 engines for the first state of the Saturn V. And look at how many still blow up or otherwise fail to put their payload in the desired orbit (although maybe in general we're getting better at that).
bannanaman 14y ago
banana
Cave_Johnson 14y ago
We're done here.

Organic Chemistry is not rocket science. I haven't seen those videos, but if they are introductory subjects, 2 immersed weeks sound about enough to me. I'll take a look at the videos today and see.

kragen 14y ago

Actually, as documented in Ignition!, a great deal of rocket science is, in fact, chemistry — and although the oxidizers are not usually organic, the fuels are.

jlgreco 14y ago
I would suggest that the chemistry parts of rocket science are some of the easier parts (how complicated can burning kerosene and LO2 be?), but I suspect I would piss off a few rocket scientists. ;)
- microtherion 14y ago
  Read Ignition!. It is, in fact, fairly difficult to find a combination of fuels that ignite exactly in the manner one wants them to, in a reasonable range of temperatures, and can be stored without decomposing or eating the storage container.
  - jlgreco 14y ago
    I think I will check that out. Thanks!
  - kragen 14y ago
    Of course, today, in large part thanks to a large number of people who died horrible deaths investigating this during the time period documented in Ignition!, it's not hard at all. But it was sure hard until the 1960s.
- kragen 14y ago
  Apparently, it's not the complexity that kills you. It's the unexpected explosions (who knew titanium could be explosive?), the deadly poisons, and the times where you discover that the oxidizer tanks for all the rockets you manufactured seven years ago are leaking fuming nitric acid, and you haven't changed the design in seven years. The solution for that problem was truly astonishing.
ninguem2 14y ago
Rocket science is not "rocket science". The expression has been coined as part of a propaganda campaign for the US public to accept a Nazi war criminal (Wernher von Braun) in an important post on the US government.
- hga 14y ago
  Maybe it's not "science", but it's horribly complicated, with then new vibration modes up the wazoo, and look up the fun efforts that were required to F1 engines for the first state of the Saturn V. And look at how many still blow up or otherwise fail to put their payload in the desired orbit (although maybe in general we're getting better at that).

bannanaman 14y ago

banana

Cave_Johnson 14y ago

We're done here.