OT - The most powerful flame yet!

Botch

Long before I got my first Large Big Green Egg, which I really love, I was actually a rocket scientist!  From 1997 to 1999, in fact.  I worked for ATK/Thiokol about an hour north of where I live, on the Space Shuttle boosters and later the Minuteman III ICBM upgrade program.
Today, ATK/Thiokol tested the QM-2, which is basically an RSRM (the Space Shuttle booster I worked on) with five sections instead of four:
http://kutv.com/news/local/watch-nasa-fires-off-worlds-most-powerful-rocket-booster-with-test-in-promontory-utah
The QM is intended for upcoming Mars missions for NASA, and is the most powerful rocket ever built by Man.  It also burns very hot, which would probably light a Big Green Egg, which I really love, in record time!  
You can't see it in the video, but the shock wave from the initial lighting you can actually see bending the grass as it rushes (at the speed of sound) towards you in the viewing area, and its the loudest sound I've ever heard, and makes your pantlegs flap!  
I had actually argued against using the "extinguisher" on one test, thinking that the thermal shock of the water would mask other problems that might be found after the firing, (not unlike pouring cold water into my Big Green Egg, which I really love, to extinguish it) but I lost that argument.  
It was a cool job for two years (so glad I left when I did, the company shrank to a fraction of what they were when the Shuttle program, and then the Minuteman upgrade, finished up).  Watching the videos really brought a smile, hope you enjoy them!  
Well, time to turn off the TV, shut down the computer, and go fire up my Big Green Egg, which I really love!  (on-sale ribeye tonight!)  

paqman

Nice story!

XLentEGG

THAT was Bad A$$ :-)

lousubcap

@ Botch -  Gotta admit that I don't have the juice that is fueling this fascination with humans in the deep space and Mars conversation.  Matter of fact, I find the whole  drive to send a human to Mars quite an undertaking that needs to be throttled back/terminated.
The expense of engineering the human into the loop versus the robotics and rovers we can get there now is several orders of magnitude more expensive.  For what "value add?"  (I get that this is the NASA current and future funding stream but again, for what?)  
Other than the bragging rights how much is it worth?  We can send all the sophisticated hardware we need to achieve all the science we want-other than the buzz factor.  And suppose as they are on "final approach" the metric versus English fail to conversion factor comes into play again...auger in.  
Off the road-box.

bgebrent

Tim Allen-like!  Nice @Botch.

HeavyG

lousubcap said:

@ Botch -  Gotta admit that I don't have the juice that is fueling this fascination with humans in the deep space and Mars conversation.  Matter of fact, I find the whole  drive to send a human to Mars quite an undertaking that needs to be throttled back/terminated.
The expense of engineering the human into the loop versus the robotics and rovers we can get there now is several orders of magnitude more expensive.  For what "value add?"  (I get that this is the NASA current and future funding stream but again, for what?)  
Other than the bragging rights how much is it worth?  We can send all the sophisticated hardware we need to achieve all the science we want-other than the buzz factor.  And suppose as they are on "final approach" the metric versus English fail to conversion factor comes into play again...auger in.  
Off the road-box.

As a kid who grew up with the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo programs I've always been a big supporter of things NASA and all the other international space agencies.

However, I'm inclined to agree that sending humans to Mars just doesn't seem worth the money. Maybe in a few decades and as a joint international endeavour. Better to spend whatever money is available now on just sending hardware out and about.

If Elon Musk and other privately financed operations want to give it a go then godspeed.

Botch

@lousubcap: I understand your points.  Posted this only because I used to work there, and, well, its an engineer thing.  

SciAggie

@Botch Thanks for sharing this. I'm assuming this was a solid fuel booster. Are they still essentially ammonium perchlorate composite propellants?

nolaegghead

http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2004/01/20040114-3.html

Botch

SciAggie said:

@Botch Thanks for sharing this. I'm assuming this was a solid fuel booster. Are they still essentially ammonium perchlorate composite propellants?

I'm assuming the five-section motor uses essentially the same solid propellant (haven't worked there since '99) which is the perchlorate you mentioned as oxidizer, epoxy base to hold it all together, powdered aluminum as fuel, and iron oxide (yes, rust) as the catalyzer.  The molded propellant had the texture of a pencil eraser.  

Ozzie_Isaac

I love the sound of boosters firing.  Knowing man did that is a tremendous rush.

I think getting a man to Mars is money well spent and engineering well used.  I grew up reading Heinlein and got to see the Mars rovers being developed.  I think there is no better pursuit.