Alliant smokeless powders are a part of the ATK companies...here is what they did today!
Yes it is Rocket Science! :))
Orbital ATK, Inc.
http://www.space.com/28795-giant-solid-rocket-booster-nasa-test.html?cmpid=514630_20150311_41903866&adbid=10152687715451466&adbpl=fb&adbpr=17610706465 (http://www.space.com/28795-giant-solid-rocket-booster-nasa-test.html?cmpid=514630_20150311_41903866&adbid=10152687715451466&adbpl=fb&adbpr=17610706465)
No wonder I can't find powder in the stores, they're using up their resources on solid booster engines.
Yea I know right! I still can't get any BE-86 :-[
They used to test these at the Bacchus Facility directly across the Salt Lake Valley from my office and home. It was really cool to see the plume when they ran an engine up. It was also cool to hear the report when one let loose.
Yea Stennis Space Center, is right across the state line from me and we can hear the rumble and feel it too!
We were just discussing the SRB's can cause acid rain, so Utah is probably a good pick this time of year, with us in the monsoons...
I have to wonder about OZONE Layer depletion with the big rockets punching holes through the atmosphere all the time!
BTW I found an answer
The solid rocket boosters are a different story. According to this page they contain:
- fuel - atomized aluminum (16 percent)
- oxidizers - ammonium perchlorate (70 percent)
- catalyst - iron oxide powder (0.2 percent)
- binder - polybutadiene acrylic acid acrylonite (12 percent)
- curing agent - epoxy resin (2 percent)
When these chemicals burn, the result is that a highly acidic, chlorinated, aluminized exhaust plume that is not very good for the ozone layer. But the number of launches is so small that the total effect is not very great. This article points out:
Even at the highest launch rate, however, Space Shuttle and Titan launches add less than 0.25% of the total chlorine present in the upper atmosphere. This tiny amount of chlorine would decrease the yearly average of global ozone by just 0.0065%. This reduction is far less than even the variation in ozone levels due to natural phenomena like volcanic eruptions and solar flares. The launch rate of vehicles with solid rocket boosters would have to be increased by at least two orders of magnitude to have a comparable effect on the ozone layer as natural processes.
http://blogs.howstuffworks.com/keep-asking/does-the-exhaust-from-rockets-create-pollution.htm (http://blogs.howstuffworks.com/keep-asking/does-the-exhaust-from-rockets-create-pollution.htm)
I think they now have scrubbers that catch the exhaust from test firing of rockets. I am pretty sure that is why the testing moved from Bacchus to Promontory.
Many of those chemicals are quite valuable, so recapturing them is a little good for the environment, and a good bit good for the bottom line.
Nope...No scrubbers.
Pretty cool though (http://i.imgur.com/s1MbS74.gifv)
Yea, this latest one develops 3 million pounds of thrust. The nozzle has thrust vectoring capabilities too.
Even with the pull-downs, none of my model rockets can match that level of performance...He he he! :o
The last rocket I made uses the G series engines. The hobby rockets have been priced where many youngsters can afford to enjoy the hobby...
Quote from: The_Shadow on March 12 2015 09:04:17 AM MDT
Even with the pull-downs, none of my model rockets can match that level of performance...He he he! :o
The last rocket I made uses the G series engines.
Videos or they didn't happen ;)
Quote from: The_Shadow on March 11 2015 03:00:18 PM MDT
Yea Stennis Space Center, is right across the state line from me and we can hear the rumble and feel it too!
We were just discussing the SRB's can cause acid rain, so Utah is probably a good pick this time of year, with us in the monsoons...
I have to wonder about OZONE Layer depletion with the big rockets punching holes through the atmosphere all the time!
I passed through your area a few months ago, i like it down there.. much more so than where dad lives northeast of baton rouge.
I did know a few people that worked at stennis, but we have lost touch in the last few years.
Here is the Saturn V from an Estes Kit with an "F" engine adapter
(http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j441/_The_Shadow/PICT0024_zpsnjfowkxu.jpg)
The Estes Space Shuttle model the Shuttle comes back as a glider
(http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j441/_The_Shadow/ROCKETS%200049_zps8ruyztzd.jpg)
My Missle pictures are still on negatives I haven't converted yet but is a shortened version of the G Force by Aerotech with different fin arrangement and tapered tail end (think Boat Tail) 4" diameter Uses G-80 engines
(http://i5.walmartimages.com/dfw/dce07b8c-2051/k2-_5d3dda1b-dac7-479e-bb1c-9d91459d388c.v1.jpg)