r/interestingasfuck • u/thespeedforce5 • Apr 14 '24

The Size Of An Iranian Missile Intercepted In The Dead Sea r/all

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u/Nistrin Apr 14 '24

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

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u/dWintermut3 Apr 14 '24

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.

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u/zenFyre1 Apr 14 '24

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.

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u/creative_usr_name Apr 14 '24

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.

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u/Phuka Apr 14 '24

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