scuttle space launch question

[ner0x]

I was wondering, once a shuttle launch is scuttled for however many days.<br />What happens to the fuel inside the tanks. They don't just leave it in there, do they ?? <br />

 

[CalliArcale]

It's a little hard to answer because it's never happened. After a normal flight, the propellants and fuel cell reactants (and other gases and liquids) are drained shortly after landing as part of the process of "safing" the vehicle so it can be transported to wherever it's going next (the back of a 747, or the Orbiter Processing Facility).<br /><br />But if a Shuttle were scuttled, the various liquids and gases would be left inside it so that it could control itself during the deorbit and reentry process. It uses fuels to power its electronics and provide hydraulic pressure to the flight control surfaces (elevons and rudder). It uses propellants (the correct term for the combination of fuel and oxidizer used in rocket engines) to deorbit, to steer during the first part of reentry, and to carefully control the center of gravity (by shifting propellants between tanks).<br /><br />If the Orbiter were able to land unmanned, these liquids and gases would be drained after landing. If it were scuttled, however, (which means ditching, probably at sea), there would be no way of draining the tanks. It would all go to the bottom of the ocean, probably in pieces because it would have a hard time with the water impact. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[viper101]

I think the question is meant to be about scrubbing not scuttling. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /><br /><br />They drain the fuel when a launch is scrubbed to the best of my knowledge.

 

[vogon13]

ET is drained following a scrub. The on board cryo tanks for the fuel cells (also containing LH2 and LOX) are not drained, but will need to be topped off after too long a delay.<br /><br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[vogon13]

There is always some 'boil off', but I believe they are pumped back to the tanks at the edge of the launch pad area.<br /><br />Flaring off that much H would be pretty dramatic!<br /><br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>