MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFORD. ORE.
Rocket Fuels Are Popular
Beverages of Americans
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, I960
By ALVIN B. WEBB. JR.
United Prei, International
Cape Canaveral-UIPD-Rocket
xueis are America's most pop
ular oeverages.
For instasnce, that glass of
water you had this morning
contained the two propellants
that will power the free
worlds first high-energy
space rocket starting next
year.
If the water in your area is
fluoridated, you consumed a
third fuel that has possibili
ties for rocket engines - as
soon as scientists can figure
out how to stop it from eating
through metal.
And if, by this time, you
have seasoned the water with
bourbon or scotch, your stom
ach is lined with a propellant
scientists are counting on to
lift a man to the edge of space
within a few months.
Don't Worry
,Don't start worrying about
your inner plumbing. Water,
as such, will do no more for a
rocket motor than it would in
your car's gasoline tank. And
the best bourbon on the mar
ket won't lift a missile 01
inch from its pad.
But to a missile scientist-
veritable modern-day alchem-
ist-these everyday items hold
the key to propulsion systems
he will use to challenge Rus
sia in the space race. It makes
changing lead into gold seem
a second-rate trick.
Nearly every school kid
who has taken chemistry has
seen water-the familiar H20
-changed into its two ele
ments, hydrogen and oxygen,
by electrolysis. Scientists can
take this one step further, by
compressing the gases.
The results are liquid hy
drogen and liquid oxygen-in-
tensely cold at hundreds of
degrees below zero, difficult
to handle. But they are now
the substances that scientists
of Convair Division of Gen
eral Dynamics Corp. predict
will open the entire inner
solar system to research."
Liquid hydrogen and oxy
gen will be used for the first
Shielding
Is Unnecessary
Heavy
Washington, (Science Serv
ice) Heavy shielding as pro
tection for an astronaut
against space radiations may
not be necessary, at least for
trips of less than SO hours
and at distances not greater
than 618 miles from earth, the
Air Force School of Aviation
Medicine at Brooks Air Force
base, Texas, has announced.
Lightweight aluminum pro
vides acceptable shielding
and, in fact, heavy shielding,
such as lead or gold, would
be more harmful than no
shielding at all, Dr. George
W. Crawford, nuclear physic
ist of the school's department
of radiobiology, reported.
(Other recent reports show
that living organisms are kill
ed at heights of 1,180 miles.)
Crawford's findings were
based on examination of the
biological specimens encased
in a three-pound aluminum
capsule as part of the payload
of Discoverer XVIII satellite
launched in November. The
specimens spent SO hours in
orbit during a gigantic solar
flare. The satellite whirled
about the earth 31 times be
fore it was returned and re
covered in the earth's atmos
phere in the air near Hawaii
by a USAF C-119 aircraft.
Lethal Dose
Previous estimates by sci
entists of radiation levels had
indicated that solar flares
might be of such intensity as
to deliver a lethal dose to
astronauts unless protected by
heavy shielding.
"Our specimens received
not more than 32 to 35 rads
during the 50 hours they were
in space," Crawford said.
"They were in space during
one of the largest solar flares
ever recorded and were ex
posed, to radiation from the
flare for 50 hours, starting
just seven hours after the
flare began."
This, is the first time such
specimens from this country
were exposed to such intensi
ties and concentrations of ra
diation for an extended time
at such an altitude and re
covered for analysis.
The biological specimens
were encased in different
types of metal to test their ef
fectiveness as shielding ma
terials. Other specimens were
shielded only by the thin
aluminum covering of the
specimen capsule and the com
paratively thin shell of the
recovery capsule. Radiation
dosimeters showed that alum
inum provided better shield
ing properties , than lead and
that any heavy metal such as
gold or lead becomes a hazard
during a solar flare as high
energy protons interact with
these heavy metals to create
damaging X-rays, Crawford
explained. This does not occur
with the lighter metals or
plastics.
Bacterial spores sent along
with the human tissue veri
fied radiation measurements
in the vehicle and the spores
were not harmed. Specimens
of algae, a possible space food
and a plant useful for atmos
phere regeneration in the con
fines of a space capsule en
vironment also appeared to be
unaffected by radiation ex
posure in their orbit in Dis
coverer XVII.
Samples of human eye and
bone joint tissue were aboard.
Human eye tissue is the most
sensitive of all to radiation
and the samples were sent
aloft to determine whether
they would survive.' Analysis
has shown that the cells were
not affected by the radiation
and a sample portion now is
reproducing normally.
Human blood cells, also
along for the space ride, were
not damaged.
These findings would indi
cate that space radiation may
not be the major hazard to
space flight as previously be
lieved.
Better Mouse Trap
Finally Invented
Washington- (Science Serv
ice) - Inventors are still try
ing to come up with a better
mouse trap, and the newest
innovation, patented recently,
uses the fly paper principle.
Patent No. 2,962,836 was
awarded to Samuel T. Hughes
of Cullman, Ala., for a rodent-catching
device that has
the appearance of a flat-roofed
bird house. A rectangular
hood with round entry holes
in either end fits over a pad
of sticky papers. The bait is
placed in a small bucket
mounted inside one corner of
the hood.
When a mouse ventures
into the building, it is trapped
on the adhesive floor. A par
ticular advantage of the trap
is that the top piece of sticky
paper can be peeled off and
wrapped around the trapped
mouse without ever handling
it.
time together in the Convair
built Centaur rocket, a high
energy vehicle which will be
available in 1961 to give
America a means of matching
Russia pound for pound in
ability to throw payloads into
space.
Centaur, generally consid
ered this nation's next big
step in rocketry, will be able
to place 4Vj-ton satellites into
orbit when launched aboard
an Atlas missile. It also will
ride atop the Saturn "super
booster" to loft payloads of 20
tons or better.
Rely on Liquids '
Centaur is a firm indication
that, despite considerable ad
vances in solid , fuels, U.S.
scientists will be relying on
liquid propellants for years to
come to give men and ma
chinery their big shoves to
ward the moon and planets.
Liquid-fueled rockets are
highly complex-in fact, the
hydrogen-oxygen Centaur
was years in arriving because I
scientists naa 10 aevise an en
gine capable of using the high
ly volatile propellants. Pratt
and Whitney Aircraft finally
accomplished it.
But the all-important burn
ing time can be controlled in
liquid-fueled engines simply
by electronically shutting off
a valve. Solid-propelled rock
ets, "which almost amount to
overgrown and elaborated ro
man candles, are considerably
more dmicult to control.
Liquid fuels were : made
popular in the German V-2
rockets, and were extended
into one of America's first
ballistic missiles, the Army's
Redstone. This rocket is powered-
by liquid oxygen and
alcohol-a ' variation of the
substance which puts the
kick" in liquor,
Proved Reliable
The oxygen-alcohol combi
nation has proved so reliable
that the Redstone will be the
first ballistic missile to carry
an American astronaut-a 14
minute hop 100 miles up and
200 miles over the Atlantic
sometime next year, ,
Liquid oxygen, which actu
ally serves as an oxidizer to
allow other fuels to burn in
airless space, will be used in
the Saturn 1.5 million-pound
thrust engine with a high
grade kerosene.
Beyond Saturn is' Nova, a
rocket monster which will
have a thrust of 9,000,000
pounds. Its fuel also will be
liquid-probably liquid oxy
gen and kerosene: 1
Scientists are constantly
searching for "exotic" ' fuels
for increased propulsion. The
liquid hydrogen-oxygen com
bination is the most potent
scheduled for actual use, but
considerable thought has been
given to the "ultimate" liquid
fuel mixture - hydrogen and
fluorine.
Fluorine Used
Fluorine is an ' element
which, when used in extreme
ly small amounts, , has been
employed safely in combat
ting tooth decay. But liquid
fluorine will eat through al
most anything except certain
kinds of wax and is a terrify
ing substance to handle.
At least one firm, Boeing
Aircraft Co., reportedly has
devised a propellant system
based on hydrogen and fluor
ine. The plan is contained in
a study called "The Ultimate
Chemical . Propellant," but
has been kept under wraps.
Meanwhile, scientists are af
work on other propulsion sys
tems that will give man the
power he needs to conquer
space-and they are not in
clined toward being unable to
see the forest for the trees.
.The fuel for the next gen
eration of U.S. super rockets
may be, like that innocent
glass of water, something you
take for granted every day.
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