Re: Shuttle Rocket Booster Foam

On Thu, 28 Apr 2005 23:55:00 -0400, John Doe wrote:

> Cindy Chambers wrote:
>>
>> Exactly what does the foam do? Is it insulating the shuttle from the tank?
>
> Nop. The tank is filled with unpressurized liquid hydrogen and liquid
> oxygen. At sea level pressure, those two really really really want to
> evaporate real fast. Evaporation needs heat to happen.
>
> By insulating the tank, it starves the liquids from the heat they need
> to evaporate, thus reducing loss of fuel due to evaporation. And it also
> reduces the amount of outdoors humidity that condendates onto the tank
> surface due to the cold generated by the fuel wanting to evaporate.
> Condensation freezes and forms ice which falls off in chunks during
> liftoff which can damage the shuttle.

There are other ways to isnulate the tank while it's on the ground, to
reduce boiling of hydrogen, condesation, keep it cold, chunk size.
--
Craig Fink
Courtesy E-Mail Welcome @ WeBeGood@xxxxxxxxx
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Shuttle Rocket Booster Foam
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