[AR] Re: Relativity Space launch failure
- From: Henry Spencer <hspencer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: Arocket List <arocket@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2023 16:46:02 -0400 (EDT)
I wrote:
...they actually said that the igniter is a torch using a glow plug to
ignite GOX/GH2...
Hmmmm. One interesting thing about the rocketcam view of second-stage
startup was that the flamey bits :-) which momentarily appeared were
yellow-orange, not the pretty blue of the first-stage engines. Hydrogen
flames can sometimes look yellow, especially during transients, due to
impurities, but ignoring that for the moment...
With methane, yellow flame tends to mean quite-fuel-rich combustion. I
wonder if the igniter worked fine but they froze their main LOX valve, so
they got a low-intensity flame as long as the igniter was running, but as
soon as the igniter stopped, the flame died for lack of oxidizer.
Henry
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