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We even know how to spell antidisestablishmentarianism.

I was watching TV all of wedensday afternoon hoping to see the space shuttle lift-off after a 30 month sabbatical from space flight due the columbia accident on Feb 1st, 2003. Much to my dissapointment and dismay, the planned lift-off of 2:58pm CDT was cancled due to the failure of a transducer in the burnt-siena colored external fuel tank. The transducer was a device that measured the amount of liquid hydrogen remaining in the tank. Even though there were three redundant sensors, I intamitely understand understand the decision to cancel the launch due to what events might transpire if the shuttle's three main engines should run out of fuel running at full throttle.

The problem lies within the pump system that provides fuel to the engines and cools the engine bell from the 3300 degree celcius tempratures that occur in combustion chamber where liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen combine and are burned in an exact 2:1 ratio creating thrust which accelerates the shuttle to a speed of roughly 25000 feet per second. The only by-product of engine combustion is water vapor. If you think about it in logical manner. It's steam that pushed the shuttle into orbit.

In order to create all this thrust, you need pumps which can push fuel into the combustion chamber at roughly 4000 PSI. The pumps on the engines in the shuttle are built by pratt and whitney and are powered by turbines which bypass some of the exaust to spin them up to the speeds needed to create this pressure. Both liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen sections of the engine each have two stages, the first stage which take the cryogenic liquid, feeds into the first stage pump at a pressure of 40PSI and boosts it to 400PSI. Then it is fed into the second pump which boosts it to 4000PSI.

The biggest enemy of the pumps is cavitation, a phenomeon that occurs with propellers and turbines where low-pressures created directly behind a turbine blade causes gas bubbles to form. These bubbles create vibrations which in the case of the shuttle, would be so severe, it would cause the pumps to explode, leading to a destructive breakup of the stern of the oribiter where all the power and life support systems are. The high pressures are needed in part to suppress this phenomon when the pumps are fully quenched. And with this fuel sensor, should it fail, it's quite feasable that the shuttle could suck dry one or both of the cryogenic fuel tanks, leading to a loss of pressure and an artifical introduction of gas and vapors into the main engine pumps which as stated above, would create cavitation in the pumps leading to them explosively self-destructing... At an altitude of 60 miles up leading to the loss of the crew and the shuttle

[color=orange]Yep! We are awesome! We even know how to spell antidisestablishmentarianism.

because we have to learn from society and they don't have to learn from us, we end up being smarter people.

[color=orange]Yep! We are awesome! We even know how to spell antidisestablishmentarianism.

We should have a party and celebrate!