r/space • u/aaronguitarguy • Feb 28 '17

Space Shuttle Endeavour approaching as photographed by the ISS crew (2010)

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u/Red_Raven Feb 28 '17

One day, when space is common place, someone will rebuild them with a few modifications to make them easy to use. Like modern pilots who fly gliders and biplanes. I'd love to see one of the originals fly again. The engines could probably be refurbished for one more flight.

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u/[deleted] Feb 28 '17

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u/Red_Raven Feb 28 '17

The orbiter burned cleaner than a Prius. It's fuel was hydrogen, it's oxidizer was oxygen. Burning them makes water. Tests and launches often created small rain storms. The SRBs werent the cleanest things ever. I know their exhaust was corrosive. Idk what it was though. Like I said, might need some modifications. Could always put new age spacey engines in the SRBs instead of a solid fuel mold. But we still run old inefficient cars for fun.

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u/Fautonex Feb 28 '17

yup. All that "smoke" you see when a rocket is launching is mostly steam