Elon Musk comes up with a solution after NASA calls off Artemis 1 mission again
Image courtesy:Inverse
On Sunday, after The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) drops the Artemis 1 uncrewed mission to the Moon for the second time, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk throws up a suggestion for the ailing mission that will finally land astronauts on the lunar surface after decades.
NASA engineers were unsuccessful in overcoming a hydrogen leak in a ‘quick disconnect’ phase of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket launch on Saturday.
According to Eric Berger of Ars Technica, NASA has a tolerance for a small amount of hydrogen leakage and anything above a 4 percent concentration of hydrogen near the quick disconnect is considered to be a flammability hazard.
With regards to Berger’s accurate assessment, Musk replied that the Raptor design started out using H2 (hydrogen), but switched to CH4 (hydrogen). He further said that the latter is the best combo of high efficiency and ease of operation in his opinion.
SpaceX CEO explains that the Delta-v difference between H2 and CH4 is small for most missions because the CH4 tank is much smaller and no insulation is required.
The delta-v is the difference in velocity that a rocket engine can impose on a spacecraft as a function of the specific impulse and the variation in the mass of the vehicle itself, Free Press Journal reports.
