# The ROCKET in rocket science!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rocket-in-rocket-science/631024>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [August 10, 2012, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rocket-in-rocket-science/631024 "2012-08-10T01:02:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rocket-in-rocket-science/631024/1 "2012-08-10T01:02:21Z")

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Sometimes it IS rocket science!

The explosions are at 1:56 and 6:21, but move toward the end and watch the fire trucks try to put out the fire. The vehicle disappears in clouds of foam, the truck ease up to see how they did, and the flames are doing just fine thank you-several times. I guess it is hard to smother a fire designed to burn in a vacuum…

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/-hvlG2JtMts/maxresdefault.jpg "Morpheus lander first free flight and failure in HD") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hvlG2JtMts)

Morpheus is a testbed built by NASA for NASA testing. Incidents like this are part of the learning curve.  
Watching the fire truck vainly trying to put out the fire was pretty amazing.

The official site for the project is:  
[http://morpheuslander.jsc.nasa.gov](http://morpheuslander.jsc.nasa.gov)

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**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rocket-in-rocket-science/631024/2 "2012-08-10T04:02:40Z")

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Thank god they test these things! Imagine if it were to crash land on the moon—now we know how to extinguish it, before a moon-fire burns out of control, threatening to destroy all the Apollo sites!

But yeh, it’s amazing to see what a teetering balance on the edge of a knife rocketry is, and it makes Curiosity’s automated landing seem all that more incredible.

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**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rocket-in-rocket-science/631024/3 "2012-08-10T13:20:55Z")

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What are they using for fuel? Nitrate film? 😃

The folding chair at the front of the test pad is amusing - was someone planning to watch the test that closely?

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**Author:** ![The\_Vorlon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@The\_Vorlon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Vorlon)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rocket-in-rocket-science/631024/4 "2012-08-10T15:23:26Z")

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Fuel was LOX and Methane O2+CH4