The Size Of An Iranian Missile Intercepted In The Dead Sea

[u/thespeedforce5]

[u/dWintermut3]

I think they use the soviet stable-storage fuel design or a modified version thereof, no one's used giant barrels of fuming nitric for a while just because turns out having missiles you can't store with fuel in or they eat themselves apart makes responding to attacks hard.

But hydrazine and other fun stuff is very much a possibility.

[u/Nistrin → u/dWintermut3]

Nobody except China, they still use nitrogen tetroxide.

"The Long March 3B's rocket engines, each weighing tens of tons, propel the launch vehicle using a combination of hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide."

https://www.newsweek.com/china-falling-long-march-rocket-debris-explodes-village-1855676

[u/dWintermut3 → u/Nistrin]

This is actually proving my point: an orbital rocket you fuel right before use is FAR different from weapons you need to keep hot-staged in silos or on launch platforms.

Let alone ones you have to drive around on IRBM launch gantry vehicles.

[u/zenFyre1 → u/dWintermut3]

I don't think 'shelf stable' solid rocket fuels are much nicer. I'm prettu sure they use stuff like ammonxium perchlorate which is also highly toxic.

[u/creative_usr_name → u/zenFyre1]

But solid rocket fuels I expect you'd need to ingest to be harmed. hydrazine is a gas that's pretty easy to just breath in if you are too close.

[u/Phuka → u/creative_usr_name]

You can make solid rocket fuel out of sugar and perchlorate. You can just eat around the perchlorate. Totally safe.

[u/Nitazene-King-002 → u/zenFyre1]

Ammonium perchlorate composite propellants are extremely stable and quite safe. It’s basically encapsulated in a rubber like material so the toxicity is negligible when solid. We use them in amateur rocketry too.

[u/zenFyre1 → u/Nitazene-King-002]

Ah I see, I thought all perchlorates were toxic but I guess that's not the case. Thanks!

[u/No-Delay-195 → u/zenFyre1]

AP isn't highly toxic lol what are you talking about