Name: SpaceX’s New Rocket Fuel Could Help Us Finally Launch Humans to Mars
Uploaded: 2020-11-30T18:40:35.000Z
Duration: 4 min 31 s
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Space six recently launched the crew one mission to the International Space Station using the iconic Merlin engine.

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But now Space X has developed an entirely new rapture engine to realize and even further goal Morris.

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And it starts with a new kind of fuel that's not only less dense but also more efficient and eco friendly.

So how does this new fuel compared to ones used in the past?

And what does it mean for sending humans to other planets?

In terms of the mixture needed to launch a rocket?

Ah, fuel was also known as propellant and an oxidizer to release oxygen.

In 1926 legendary engineer Dr Robert Goddard used a combination of gasoline and liquid oxygen tow launch the very first rocket.

It was a great starting point, but it's better.

Gasoline really lost its popularity because when considering, the safety of the crew is just all around bad idea to have an extremely volatile substance as your main propelled.

Now let's jump to 1981 when Man's space shuttle started using liquid hydrogen to power their acceleration into orbit in combination with an oxidizer like liquid oxygen.

You've got the fuel that launched over 130 shuttles when burned.

This combination actually yields the highest specific impulse of any known rocket fuel.

Specific impulse is a measure of how effectively the energy content within the propellant actually is converted into thrust.

Basically, think of this as a rockets fuel economy, similar to what you find when your car shop, knowing the efficiency of the propellant actually helps us to calculate just how far we can go.

But a major drawback of using liquid hydrogen is its density.

With a relatively low density of only 70 g per leader, this requires engineers to use much bigger fuel tanks than they would use for higher density fuels like heresy, which was the fuel that brought astronauts to the moon back in the Apollo air.

So having a propellant with the higher density means a smaller fuel tank, ah, light of rocket and the ability to go further distances fast forward.

Another 20 years to two thousands, where Russia's RD 1 80 engine and the space X Merlin engine utilized combination of RP one and liquid oxygen and R.

P one is really just a highly refined form of kerosene.

This is mainly used for its incredibly high density about 806 g per liter, making RP one the ideal fuel to pack as much power as possible into a smaller fuel tank.

And with the boiling point of over 420 degrees kelvin, it's also really good at withstanding heat increases that you see during launch.

Ah, higher boiling point also means less installation is needed for the fuel tank, which means more space for your fuel and the lighter rocket.

But RP one has some drawbacks that are leading space.

Six Scientists look at a different propelling, which could be used specifically for Mars exploration.

Enter the space X Rapture engine and its next generation propelling This engine used a combination of liquid methane and liquid oxygen to create what is, in my opinion, the perfect mixture for a reusable vehicle on Mars.

Not only is this an efficient fuel, but it could easily be created using resource that we confined on the Red Planet, and this is great because one of Space X's main goals is to create a system that could take humans to Mars and back both Methane and Co.

Two could be extracted from the atmosphere.

Using solar power and water could be mine near the surface of Mars using wells and we compared to RP one, methane not only has a higher specific impulse and the cooler combustion temperature, but it also prevents cocaine, which is the build up of deposits in the engine, preventing coking ism or eco friendly approach because it allows the same engine to be used over and over again while not depositing toxic chemicals into the atmosphere.

Now we've never sent humans to Mars before.

We sent a ton of robotic missions there, but never actual humans.

And now Space X is making it even easier As recently as August 2020.

Space Sixes Rapture Engine has a major milestone in their engine development process.

When they're chamber pressure reached 330 bar without exploded.

This beats out the previous record held by the Soviet Union's R D 701 engine and Space X is Merlin engine.

To me, it's an absolutely incredible accomplishment because it could be the foundation for the interstellar travel that we've all been waiting for.

Hey, everyone, I'm Kenny Harris, a satellite engineer and one of seekers.

I've always been in love with space and engineering, so I'm extremely excited to be able to share my interest with you as a new member of the secret family.

Thank you so much for watching this video and let me know what you think in the comments below.

And if you want more engineering news like this, go ahead and subscribe.