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Chinese rocket static-fire test results in unintended launch and huge explosion (spacenews.com)
submitted 1 week ago by [email protected] to c/spaceflight
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[-] [email protected] 15 points 6 days ago

Wouldn't be the first time. China drops debris and rocket stages on populated areas all the time

[-] [email protected] 7 points 6 days ago

And rocket fuel, which isn't great for pretty much anything alive.

[-] threelonmusketeers 4 points 6 days ago

rocket fuel, which isn't great for pretty much anything alive

Depends on the rocket fuel.

  • Methalox: Harmless gases. Methane is a greenhouse gas, but it's not toxic. Basically like a bunch of cows burping.
  • Kerolox: Kerosene is an oily liquid, so not great for the environment, but not highly toxic.
  • Hypergolics: Hydrazine derivatives and nitrogen tetroxide are both highly toxic.

The Tianlong-3 in this article uses kerolox. The Long March 2C booster which fell near a village last week uses hypergols.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 6 days ago

Yeah, primarily hypergolics are the fun ones. I didn't hear about the booster that fell near a village recently, but there was one that I think had an emergency dump over some village or town a few years ago.

this post was submitted on 30 Jun 2024
157 points (97.6% liked)

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