http://public.blueorigin.com/index.html
Wow! That thing is huge. From the lack fire it looks like it's a peroxide mono-propellant rocket though.
It's also got a 9x cluster of engines just like the falcon 9. Looks like the got the shocks on the landing gear right too. ;)
From the request for resume's of people experience in turbomachinery, it looks like he intends to develop a high-performance engine.
Comga - 9/1/2007 7:42 PM
It is a technical stepping stone, and a darn good one. It may be capable of a lot more than 0.1km altitude, and we may see that. I hope we see it soon. It is a fine machine just as it is, and that was a great flight just as it was.
Comga
- 9/1/2007 7:42 PM
It is not even going to be entered into the Lunar Lander challenge,because high strength hydrogen peroxide is not allowed.
imcub - 10/1/2007 5:36 PMQuoteComgaWhy no hydrogen peroxide? Perhaps it doesn't contain enough BTU's per pound to make it a good fuel when weight is critical?
- 9/1/2007 7:42 PM
It is not even going to be entered into the Lunar Lander challenge,because high strength hydrogen peroxide is not allowed.
Taking a small snippet from that page:
Hydrogen peroxide, either in pure or diluted form, can pose several risks:
jimvela - 10/1/2007 9:50 PM
It is my understanding that it is due to pure H2O2 being very hazardous, much like the reason that they don't allow hydrazine...
jimvela - 10/1/2007 6:50 PMThat's a bit strange, given that a H202 powered rocketbelt was one of the main attractions at XPC '06. I'm not sure what concentration the current "rocketman" belt uses, but the ISTR original Bell belt used 90%.
It is my understanding that it is due to pure H2O2 being very hazardous, much like the reason that they don't allow hydrazine...
A.3.9.1 The following fuels and oxidizers shall be considered safe for operation at the Competition Venue: ethane, ethyl alcohol, gaseous oxygen, hydrogen, H20, H202 in concentrations less than or equal to 70%, isopropyl alcohol, kerosene, liquid oxygen, methane, N20, propane, butane.It's hard to see H202 presenting more hazard to spectators while in flight than lox/hydrocarbon. Given that either one can go BOOM in a mishap, the crowd has to be well beyond the range that could potentially bring them into contact with much propellant. Unlike hydrazine, a relatively distant mishap would be unlikely to present a poison risk.
A.3.9.2 The following fuels and oxidizers shall be considered unsafe for operation at the Competition Venue: H202 in concentrations greater than 70%, nitric acid, hydrazine, unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine, monomethylhydrazine, any hypergolic propellant combination.