Somebody scored at the flea market ping.
Posted on 10/19/2018 12:10:35 PM PDT by ETL
Somebody scored at the flea market ping.
I salute your grit.
This is exactly the kind of dramatic, but somewhat bizarre, action that brings honor to all FReepers.
I feel like I should end this with some famous Latin quote, but none seem to come to mind right now.
Damn the dishes! Wear your soap pad hat with pride!
NASA is big on “that’s our hardware.” I have seen where space memorabilia shows up at auction only to be grabbed by NASA.
That said, they will probably come out and collect any bit of Columbia that is large or looks important. Little crumbs of aluminum, probably not. It was moving around mach 20 when it began to fail so there is a lot of little crumbs spread over the hundreds of miles of debris field.
I have no doubt that some of the stuff found is sitting on peoples mantles or already forgotten in a drawer.
It could be sold but not in a public forum.
I accept your accolades! By Grabthar’s Hammer, you will be avenged! Never give up! Never surrender!...
(I’m going to go see if I can form some sort of rudimentary lathe...)
“I think these things were filled with hydrogen peroxide...” [Buckeye McFrog]
As rocket propellant, hydrogen peroxide went out decades ago. It wouldn’t store too well in systems meant to stay on orbit for 15 years or more. And it’s not terribly energetic: causes less change in velocity per pound of propellant.
On-orbit maneuvering thrusters have used a hypergolic combination: some formulation of hydrazine as fuel, and nitrogen tetroxide as oxidizer. “Hypergolic” means they ignite on contact with each other - reduces weight & complexity, as igniter subsystems aren’t needed.
Some maneuvering systems have used hydrazine-based monopropellants: fuel and oxidizer mixed as one liquid. These do need an igniter to get them going.
More recently, ion propulsion systems have been used. Available thrust isn’t very high, but they are extremely efficient in fuel consumption.
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