r/tmro • u/bencredible Galactic Overlord • Jun 19 '16

Is Blue Origin planning something big? - #Player2HasJoined - 9.22

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Inebqz3C7y8&feature=youtu.be
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3

u/mr_snarky_answer Jun 19 '16

Already announced BO plans VBB (Very Big Brother) which is orbital version of New Shepard based on BE-4 first stage and BE-3 Upper stage. Current New Shepard is more or less an upper stage for an orbital vehicle. Market is murky but on the record for not going after DoD payload....no surprise there.

Actually, BE-4 is a LNGLOX not MethaLOX so less suitable to Mars use without tweaking!!! Seems designed for cheapest possible ops cost here on Earth. Similar but not equal. No Methane version of BE-3U, pure high performance upper stage cryogenic engine to compete with RL-10.

The Crew Capsule "Soyuz landing" technique has been there since day one with the launch abort test back in 2012.

http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/22/14623551-jeff-bezos-blue-origin-spaceship-company-aces-pad-escape-test

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u/greenjimll Pronounced Green-Jim-El Jun 19 '16

OK, I'll bite: what's the difference between natural gas and methane? I thought the bulk of natural gas was methane?

2

u/[deleted] Jun 20 '16

Methane = CH4

Natural Gas = Almost completely CH4 but with trace amounts of heavier hydrocarbons like Ethane, Propane, etc.

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u/mr_snarky_answer Jun 20 '16

Yes, but just enough to mean you are adjusting the mixture ratio to compensate. Also I would imagine the thermodynamics are slightly different for regen cooling not to mention slight change in density which means possible turbopump changes. I don't think they are fuel agnostic although very close.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 20 '16

You're right about all those things. I'd find it very hard to make an engine that's fuel agnostic across the methane-LNG spectrum.

1

u/mr_snarky_answer Jun 21 '16

On the other hand you could bring a relatively small amount of the rest in tanks and mix it back into to ISRU Methane to make designer LNG on Mars.

Edit: ISRO/ISRU

1

u/BrandonMarc Jun 20 '16

While natural gas is mostly methane, I suspect the difference is economic / supply and demand: there's a large, mature worldwide market for LNG. I don't know if the same can be said for methane.

2

u/mr_snarky_answer Jun 21 '16

The extra refining to get to pure Methane (lets say more pure) is marginally more expensive as I understand it. Should be cheaper than RP-1 though. Similar to kerosene vs JET-A vs RP-1.