Can anyone tell me why they are wearing such high level protection for a space shuttle.

[cvfd1399 0]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/11171389/Top-secret-US-space-drone-returns-to-Earth-after-two-year-orbit.html

Quote

A top-secret US robot space plane returned to Earth on Friday after a 22-month orbit, officials said, although the spacecraft's mission remains shrouded in mystery.

The unmanned X-37B, which looks like a miniature space shuttle, glided into the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California after having launched on December 11, 2012, on a mission that military officers say is still strictly secret.

Are they trying to not contaminate the shuttle with contact by humans? After reentry, and the thing is hot, is some parts of it off gassing something toxic?

By the picture you can see a portable AC/Ventillation plugged into it. Looks like they are trying to cool something down, or keep it cool.

I for one welcome our new alien overlord!

[DanG 1]

Can't be too dangerous, there are people walking around in the background totally unprotected.

- Dan G

[jonstark 8]

The hydraulic pumps are powered by monomethyl hydroxene and nitrogen tetroxide. Run the mmh thru a catalist and it gasses off violently but the escaping gas is run past a turbine to spin the pumps. The the reaction control systems are run with hypergallic fuels which are deadly. Bad gasses around these vehicles when they land. Look for an orange exhaust plume.

Jon

[cvfd1399 0]

I might be wrong, isn't this the longest any vehicle has been in space exposed to everything, that actually came back to earth without burning up like Skylab? I doubt they think biological hazard, that should probably from cosmic radiation and the extreme heat of re-entry if it existed. I'm guessing radiation, or something from the shuttle itself. I know some of the rockets/satellites use some bad stuff for fuel cells, or electrical power. When the space shuttle blew up over Texas they were warning people to stay away due to hazards, or they were just trying to prevent treasure hunters.

[jonstark 8]

I am not making those chemicals up. I may not have it all correct because it has been 29 years since I worked on the Shuttle and my memory is a very convincing lier. I was on the Shuttle recovery and processing team in the eighties. There is some bad shit when they land!

Jon

[champu 1]

cvfd1399

I might be wrong, isn't this the longest any vehicle has been in space exposed to everything, that actually came back to earth without burning up like Skylab? I doubt they think biological hazard, that should probably from cosmic radiation and the extreme heat of re-entry if it existed. I'm guessing radiation, or something from the shuttle itself. I know some of the rockets/satellites use some bad stuff for fuel cells, or electrical power.

1. This is not the longest a craft has been in space before returning. There was a mission by JAXA a few years ago called Hayabusa that spent a little over 7 years in space.

2. jonstark was correct regarding the MMH. It's used to power the thrusters in many spacecraft and it vaporizes into a highly toxic, flammable, corrosive, carcinogenic gas. Many thermal control systems in space vehicles also use ammonia which can be pretty nasty too, but those are self-contained and would be a secondary concern.

[Stumpy 256]

DanG

Can't be too dangerous, there are people walking around in the background totally unprotected.

Chemtrails. I reckon its chemtrails

Never try to eat more than you can lift

[quade 3]

cvfd1399

After reentry, and the thing is hot, is some parts of it off gassing something toxic?

Yes. Pretty much the same as the Space Shuttle that flew for decades.

You can google it.

I'm not really sure why you didn't.

http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/release/1992/1-92.htm

Scroll down to the post-landing operations section.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[kallend 1,623]

champu

***I might be wrong, isn't this the longest any vehicle has been in space exposed to everything, that actually came back to earth without burning up like Skylab? I doubt they think biological hazard, that should probably from cosmic radiation and the extreme heat of re-entry if it existed. I'm guessing radiation, or something from the shuttle itself. I know some of the rockets/satellites use some bad stuff for fuel cells, or electrical power.

1. This is not the longest a craft has been in space before returning. There was a mission by JAXA a few years ago called Hayabusa that spent a little over 7 years in space.

2. jonstark was correct regarding the MMH. It's used to power the thrusters in many spacecraft and it vaporizes into a highly toxic, flammable, corrosive, carcinogenic gas. Many thermal control systems in space vehicles also use ammonia which can be pretty nasty too, but those are self-contained and would be a secondary concern.

It could be the MMH but have you thought about Quatermass?

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[Calvin19 0]

cvfd1399

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/11171389/Top-secret-US-space-drone-returns-to-Earth-after-two-year-orbit.html

Quote

A top-secret US robot space plane returned to Earth on Friday after a 22-month orbit, officials said, although the spacecraft's mission remains shrouded in mystery.

The unmanned X-37B, which looks like a miniature space shuttle, glided into the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California after having launched on December 11, 2012, on a mission that military officers say is still strictly secret.

Are they trying to not contaminate the shuttle with contact by humans? After reentry, and the thing is hot, is some parts of it off gassing something toxic?

By the picture you can see a portable AC/Ventillation plugged into it. Looks like they are trying to cool something down, or keep it cool.

I for one welcome our new alien overlord!

My somewhat educated idea is that it's a combination of not wanting to contaminate it with organics as well as protecting the team from the nasty shit that a lot of long-life onboard rocket engines use.
Tetroxide is nasty stuff, and it is still used in a lot of aviation and spaceflight applications. Some military aircraft use it as EPU fuel. very high energy density and controllable/predicable applications.

Of course the top secret nature of the project does not give us enough info to do anything more than loosely speculate.

-SPACE-

[champu 1]

kallend

***1. This is not the longest a craft has been in space before returning. There was a mission by JAXA a few years ago called Hayabusa that spent a little over 7 years in space.

2. jonstark was correct regarding the MMH. It's used to power the thrusters in many spacecraft and it vaporizes into a highly toxic, flammable, corrosive, carcinogenic gas. Many thermal control systems in space vehicles also use ammonia which can be pretty nasty too, but those are self-contained and would be a secondary concern.

It could be the MMH but have you thought about Quatermass?

[billvon 2,400]

>jonstark was correct regarding the MMH. It's used to power the thrusters in many
>spacecraft and it vaporizes into a highly toxic, flammable, corrosive, carcinogenic
>gas.

Useless fact of the day - the F16 uses hydrazine in its emergency power unit, and servicing it/preparing for emergencies with it/dealing with spills has been a monumental pain in the butt for the Air Force.

[Calvin19 0]

***

Useless fact of the day - the F16 uses hydrazine in its emergency power unit, and servicing it/preparing for emergencies with it/dealing with spills has been a monumental pain in the butt for the Air Force.[/quote

that

-SPACE-

[kallend 1,623]

billvon

>jonstark was correct regarding the MMH. It's used to power the thrusters in many
>spacecraft and it vaporizes into a highly toxic, flammable, corrosive, carcinogenic
>gas.

Useless fact of the day - the F16 uses hydrazine in its emergency power unit, and servicing it/preparing for emergencies with it/dealing with spills has been a monumental pain in the butt for the Air Force.

What about the ME163?

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[Andy9o8 0]

kallend

***>jonstark was correct regarding the MMH. It's used to power the thrusters in many
>spacecraft and it vaporizes into a highly toxic, flammable, corrosive, carcinogenic
>gas.

Useless fact of the day - the F16 uses hydrazine in its emergency power unit, and servicing it/preparing for emergencies with it/dealing with spills has been a monumental pain in the butt for the Air Force.

What about the ME163?I'm pretty sure it's been retired.

[kallend 1,623]

Andy9o8

******>jonstark was correct regarding the MMH. It's used to power the thrusters in many
>spacecraft and it vaporizes into a highly toxic, flammable, corrosive, carcinogenic
>gas.

Useless fact of the day - the F16 uses hydrazine in its emergency power unit, and servicing it/preparing for emergencies with it/dealing with spills has been a monumental pain in the butt for the Air Force.

What about the ME163?I'm pretty sure it's been retired.

It did have some nasty habits - like dissolving its pilots or causing them to spontaneously combust.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[lawrocket 3]

kallend

*********>jonstark was correct regarding the MMH. It's used to power the thrusters in many
>spacecraft and it vaporizes into a highly toxic, flammable, corrosive, carcinogenic
>gas.

Useless fact of the day - the F16 uses hydrazine in its emergency power unit, and servicing it/preparing for emergencies with it/dealing with spills has been a monumental pain in the butt for the Air Force.

What about the ME163?I'm pretty sure it's been retired.

It did have some nasty habits - like dissolving its pilots or causing them to spontaneously combust.

That was due to the use of hydrogen peroxide as fuel. Not the happy 2% that we use on cuts and scrapes but at 80% H2O2. That stuff is pretty reactive with all kinds of things like human tissue and explosively decomposes.

One benefit of high test peroxide is that it's pretty easy to clean up if it's spilled and doesn't start reacting yet. Just add water and dilute it. Unlike hypergolic fuels like hydrazine and such...

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[kallend 1,623]

lawrocket

************>jonstark was correct regarding the MMH. It's used to power the thrusters in many
>spacecraft and it vaporizes into a highly toxic, flammable, corrosive, carcinogenic
>gas.

Useless fact of the day - the F16 uses hydrazine in its emergency power unit, and servicing it/preparing for emergencies with it/dealing with spills has been a monumental pain in the butt for the Air Force.

What about the ME163?I'm pretty sure it's been retired.

It did have some nasty habits - like dissolving its pilots or causing them to spontaneously combust.

That was due to the use of hydrogen peroxide as fuel. Not the happy 2% that we use on cuts and scrapes but at 80% H2O2. That stuff is pretty reactive with all kinds of things like human tissue and explosively decomposes.

One benefit of high test peroxide is that it's pretty easy to clean up if it's spilled and doesn't start reacting yet. Just add water and dilute it. Unlike hypergolic fuels like hydrazine and such...

That was only the T-stoff. The other component was C-stoff (methanol, HYDRAZINE HYDRATE and potassium cupro-cyanide). And the pilot sat between the tanks! Very nasty.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[Calvin19 0]

lawrocket

************>jonstark was correct regarding the MMH. It's used to power the thrusters in many
>spacecraft and it vaporizes into a highly toxic, flammable, corrosive, carcinogenic
>gas.

Useless fact of the day - the F16 uses hydrazine in its emergency power unit, and servicing it/preparing for emergencies with it/dealing with spills has been a monumental pain in the butt for the Air Force.

What about the ME163?I'm pretty sure it's been retired.

It did have some nasty habits - like dissolving its pilots or causing them to spontaneously combust.

That was due to the use of hydrogen peroxide as fuel. Not the happy 2% that we use on cuts and scrapes but at 80% H2O2. That stuff is pretty reactive with all kinds of things like human tissue and explosively decomposes.

One benefit of high test peroxide is that it's pretty easy to clean up if it's spilled and doesn't start reacting yet. Just add water and dilute it. Unlike hypergolic fuels like hydrazine and such...


I worked for a year for a 'rocket' company and we used 91-96% HTP as a monopropellant. My main job was running the H202 concentration lab. In anything over 70% it gets pretty fun. I'll try to dig up some videos.

A few times I took 100ml from a 95% test batch out back of the hangar and dumped it on a tumbleweed to watch it Instantly explode. In the lab I was normally required to wear a full haz suit and supplied air respirator/hood. But while cooking back to back batches I would only need to be in the clean room for 2 or 3 minutes than sit and wait out in the lounge for a couple hours, then back in for two minutes, then another few hours. I would skip the suit sometimes and would always come out with what looked like white paint overspray on all exposed skin and face. The pure H2O2 in even microscopic air suspension from the vacuum distillation leakage would be enough to make any organic surface decompose rapidly. Once another worker accidentally dropped a dirty metal washer in a 55gal drum of 50/50% H20/H202 raw mix and it slowly boiled off over the course of a week or two. The whole time the drum was hot to the touch. I would much rather be working with H2O2 than hydrazine obviously, but H2O2 is pretty nasty.


Also, some people have a windproof lighter or matches in their survival kit. I just carry a few viles of 95%HTP.

-SPACE-

[lawrocket 3]

The hydrazine can kill quickly. Usually through inhalation or being blown up by it. When the Apollo capsule for the Apollo Soyuz Test Project re-entered, the reaction control system was inadvertently left on and when the air vents opened, some nitrogen tetroxide was sucked into the cabin. Almost killed them. Knocked Brand unconscious and he, Stafford and Slayton were hopsitalized for a week or two recovering from it.

The transcript is quite interesting. And it's why the Shuttle was always on the ground for a while before anyone got out.

My wife is hotter than your wife.