Linked Questions
13 questions linked to/from Why is the flame of the Falcon 9's 2nd stage (nearly) invisible?
34
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3
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Why do the exhaust flames from cryogenic stage engines appear to be separated from the nozzle?
Why do the exhaust flames from cryogenic stage engines appear to be separated from the nozzle?
16
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2
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Are rocket exhaust flames ever opaque?
The flame exiting the space shuttle main engine is obviously transparent. But, you can't see objects through either the Saturn V booster flame or that of the space shuttle solid rocket boosters. Is it ...
18
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2
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How did the kerosene-burning Black Arrow have transparent exhaust? (seems to just "hover" in photos)
Kerosene + LOX rockets have big, bright exhaust plumes, at least in the atmosphere; second stages are are a different matter: Why is the flame of the Falcon 9's 2nd stage (nearly) invisible?
But ...
9
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2
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Is it possible to create different colors in rocket exhaust?
Would it be feasible in any rocket engine (liquid or solid) intended for flight above the atmosphere to add one of the following elements: barium, lithium, sodium, copper, or calcium to create ...
10
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1
answer
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Merlin engine stoichiometry
As evidenced by the bright exhaust plume at launch, the billowing black smoke rolling out of the flame trench during static tests, the wispy grey effluent from the Merlin Vacuum engine, and the layer ...
6
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2
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Pro/cons of burning propellant in stochiometric ratio?
Several questions and answers here speak of stochiometric ratio. I do understand it is convinient for efficiency (greater ISP). I also read somewhere (I am unable ro find again the reference, it was ...
11
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1
answer
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How do rocket propellant combinations rank in terms of "brightness"?
While a booster on the shuttle had a bit more than twice the thrust of the shuttles engines at take-off, I'd venture a guess that it produced on the order of a thousand time more visible light. In ...
6
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1
answer
686
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Which is the preferred mode of liquid rocket engine cutoff - fuel lean cutoff or fuel rich cutoff?
When a bi-propellant liquid rocket engine receives a command to shut down,
will the fuel gets cut off first and then the oxidiser - a fuel lean cutoff?
Will the oxidiser gets cut off first and then ...
5
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2
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816
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Why is rocket engine flame usually clear/transparent at the nozzle?
This is a followup to a question about why the Falcon 9 second stage flame was invisible when out of the atmosphere. See: Why is the flame of the Falcon 9's 2nd stage invisible?.
That was well ...
3
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2
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234
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Can pyroxene and other silicon compounds be used as a theoretical spacecraft fuel?
I have been reading this patent, which led me to this paper.
The first uses polysilane, which basically replaces the $\text{C}$ in a $\text{-R-C-R-}$ group, making an $\text{-R-Si-R-}$ group. I also ...
0
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2
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How does the camera make the exhaust of the Electron's RP-1/LOX exhaust transparent?
In this 20-Nov-2018 Tweet from Rocket Labs XXX Peter Beck there is an image of the nine Rutherford engines of an Electron rocket burning. What is unusual is that the exhaust is luminescent but at the ...
3
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1
answer
408
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What is the electromagnetic spectrum profile of rocket flame/exhaust?
...from common observation, I can easily conclude there is a lot of infrared (from burning, superheated fuel), ending somewhere near yellow of visible spectrum; there should be next to none of UV and ...
2
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1
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105
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How is stage 2 propelling the spacecraft forward? [closed]
A decent response on how the burning process works but how does this glowy burner push the spacecraft