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Topic: A thought on solid rocketry  (Read 10266 times)

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Corvettaholic

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A thought on solid rocketry
« on: June 21, 2004, 03:33:56 PM »
I read that article on the first commercial vehicle in space, and it got me thinking about rocketry again. Well its a hybrid engine, so it has a solid chunk of fuel, and an oxidizer (liquid) is sprayed in there. Easy enough. I think rockets NASA uses are liquid fueled? And ICBM's are solid fuel for quick launching.

For a fun little experiment (which I won't do for safety concerns) would be to make your own tiny bit of solid rocket fuel and launch a toilet paper roll into the next city. I was looking into gun cotton a ways back, and now I'm thinking wouldn't it work for rocket fuel too? I mean, take anything organic and shove it into nitric acid for a while, then you should have all the necessary elements of a flaming ball of goodness. Insert flaming ball of goodness into metal container with one small opening, and you have a rocket, right?

Offline billnotgatez

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Re:A thought on solid rocketry
« Reply #1 on: June 22, 2004, 08:12:05 AM »

Offline Mitch

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Re:A thought on solid rocketry
« Reply #2 on: June 22, 2004, 06:53:55 PM »
I mean, take anything organic and shove it into nitric acid for a while, then you should have all the necessary elements of a flaming ball of goodness. Insert flaming ball of goodness into metal container with one small opening, and you have a rocket, right?

True, but you can never be sure how explosive your substance is going to be. It may end up being shock sensitive.
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