Failure to Launch
Can one man really change Iowa's offensive ineptitude?
I got done with my workout last night, took a shower, changed into some pajamas, and checked Twitter once more before going to bed.1 There, between the typical vitriol and LOLs, was a NASA live video feed of the midnight launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a moon lander. I’m no rocket science — my takes on this newsletter prove as much — but I find this stuff fascinating, especially the SpaceX process of reusable rockets.
The NASA host described something I’d never heard of before: “The fire triangle” of heat, fuel and an oxidizing agent. The Falcon 9 rocket carried one million pounds of kerosene and liquid oxygen. The oxygen is chilled below the boiling point so that they can get as much as possible into the rocket, because once you reach space, there’s no oxidizing agent to be found. An ignitable compound, triethylaluminum, acts as the heat source. You get all three, and you get a whole lot of fire, even in space.
The launch went off without a hitch. At five minutes after midnight, the rocket ignited, shot straight up, turned over, and broke through the night sky above Houston. The first stage separated and returned to earth, landing on a pad just a few minutes after takeoff. The second stage reached just shy of 27,000 kilometers an hour before turning off. Next stop: The south pole of the moon. It will be the first time in 52 years that the United States has sent a spacecraft to the moon, which seems like a long-running missed opportunity. We could be a lot further along right now in space travel if we hadn’t taken our eye off the ball.
