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| Credit: The New York Times |
The Delta IV Heavy burns ultracold liquid hydrogen, which is a high-performance fuel. In the final part of the countdown, to cool down the engines and prevent a sudden temperature shock that could cause cracks, liquid hydrogen starts flowing through the engine into the flame trench.
But when the hydrogen warms above its boiling temperature of minus 423.2 degrees Fahrenheit, it turns into a gas. Hydrogen is lighter than air and rises upward. When the engines ignite, so does that cloud of hydrogen — like a space-age Hindenburg.
“A very dramatic effect,” Mr. Bruno said.
I'm not much of a space nerd, so I didn't know that the Delta Heavy runs on liquid hydrogen. The pictures are dramatic, sure, but the video is really dramatic. Click over there to see.
*Makes you wonder if there is some hydrogen provider that's bummed out 'cause they're losing a big account.
I’ve never understood why the effort to crew-rate D-IV or D-IV-heavy wasn’t performed after Columbia. Anything with solid boosters is going to shower a parachuting crew capsule with burning rubber and aluminum during a disaster, but liquid fuels go up all at once and stop burning pretty quickly (and you can turn the engines off if the airframe survives). But SLS still has the solids.
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