Admirable in their successes, and spectacular in their failures. Rockets carry within them all our dreams and space exploration projects, but the general public doesn't quite visualize the extreme complexity of their designs, to the point that they operate with almost nonexistent margins of error. One of the most fascinating aspects is fuel consumption, the net amount required, and its internal distribution. A video published by Hazegrayart on YouTube helps us get a closer look at those details, with a touch of transparency in four famous vehicles...
Science fiction writer Robert Heinlein once said that if you can get your ship into orbit, you're halfway to anywhere. However, over the decades we've learned that reaching Earth orbit isn't that easy. Only in 2020 more than half a dozen high-profile failures were recorded, combining technical and human problems.
For that reason, each rocket needs to be a masterpiece of engineering: mistakes are costly, and they tend to have an explosive profile. But what happens inside? How do its systems interconnect? What about the fuel? The video published by Hazegrayart on YouTube focuses on the third question in a very special way: with transparent rockets.
"Transparent rockets"
The video shows us in real time the launches of four well-known vehicles: the Saturn V (backbone of the Apollo program), the Space Shuttle, the Falcon Heavy that will return to action in the last days of February, and the much-delayed SLS, with its first flight scheduled for November of this year.
What exactly happens with the fuel colors? In red we see RP-1, a refined form of kerosene that shares certain similarities with jet fuel. RP-1 is widely used in the 'first stages' of many rockets, and its development dates back to the mid-1950s. In blue we see liquid oxygen, LOX, the most popular oxidizer, which also served as fuel in early liquid designs. Finally, in orange we see liquid hydrogen, LH2.
https://old.neoteo.com/el-dia-que-un-cohete-espacial-mato-a-una-vaca/The video also reveals the separation of each of the phases, and a fundamental detail of all these designs: A significant part of the vehicles never fully leaves the atmosphere. Of course, the concept of reuse allows costs to be significantly reduced, but in the end, that is the great challenge: reaching space more efficiently and safely.
