After NASA canceled Artemis 1 on Saturday (September 3) for the second time in a week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk came up with a solution using CH4 (hydrogen).
NASA canceled Artemis 1 on Saturday (3 September) for the second time in a week. The WE The space agency had to terminate the mission due to a liquid hydrogen leak during the refueling of the rocket engine’s tanks. Although a team of engineers with high expertise in rocket technology could not fix the problem, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk made a suggestion that would eventually send astronauts to the surface of the Moon after decades.
Ars Technica’s Eric Berger explains that the US space agency is likely to tolerate small amounts of hydrogen leaks and that anything with a hydrogen concentration above 4% near ‘quick disconnection’ is considered a hazard flammable hazard. Responding to him, Musk said that the Raptor design started out using H2 (hydrogen), but switched to CH4 (hydrogen), which is the best combination of high efficiency and ease of operation. “The Delta-v difference between H2 and CH4 is small for most tasks, because the CH4 bin is much smaller and doesn’t require insulation,” he said.
Here, delta-v is the difference of the velocity that the rocket engine can apply on the spacecraft as a function of the specific impulse and the variation in the mass of the vehicle itself.
According to Musk, CH4 (methane) is easier to produce on Mars and is “very important” for launch missions. His SpaceX was one of the first to use methane and liquid hydrogen as fuel for rockets.
According to the report, NASA’s Artemis spacecraft with an 8-inch diameter carrying liquid hydrogen into the rocket “caused a persistent leak at the inlet, known as rapid disconnection, which resulted on the spacecraft convenient”.
NASA has scheduled the next launch window from September 19 to October 4. “However, implementing that window will require fixing the rocket at the launch pad, and then receiving clearance from the launch site. abandonment of the United States. Space The report said the force operated launch ranges along the Florida coast.
Meanwhile, the space agency has another chance to launch Artemis I between October 17 and October 31.
