Word: hydrogenate
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Trucks used for shipping chemicals must be strong enough to survive a rollover without breaking open, and tank cars a derailment. Hydrogen cyanide, a lethal poison, can be transported only in carriers with 1-in.-thick, high-strength steel bulkheads. When a railroad car carrying petrochemicals overturns, the reason may be loose rails, which can break off from their ties and puncture the front of an oncoming tank car. Therefore, industry rules were established that call for adding more insulation and head shields. Cost: $452 million...
...stressed that life needs four elements to evolve: hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon...
...engine cutoff." Seconds later, NASA officials watched in helpless dismay while their proud young ship sputtered to stillness like a jalopy running out of gas. Concluded Hess stoically: "We have an abort." Nor was that the worst of it. As the astronauts lay strapped in their seats, awaiting instructions, hydrogen gas gathering in the ship's main-engine area burst into flames below them, shooting a tiny inferno through the engine pit. Sprinklers on the launch pad immediately flooded the pit with several thousand gallons of water, dousing the blaze in less than five minutes. Half an hour later...
...Once engines are sparked and combustible materials released, the likelihood of a launch-pad tragedy escalates dramatically. As it turns out, experts who studied high-speed film of Discovery's firing taken right before shutdown believe that something was burning that should not have been. Normally, the liquid hydrogen and liquid oxgygen that combine in the engine nozzles to fuel the shuttle at takeoff produce billows of clean white steam. The film shows reddish-orange streaks in the clouds, a sign of burning plastic...
Discovery's engine No. 3 had already helped power three shuttle missions, and its age was showing. About 6 sec. before blastoff, a heated mixture of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen was supposed to be pumped forcefully through the engine's main fuel line into a central combustion chamber, where it would ignite. But the 10 ¼ in. long, 74-lb. fuel valve faltered a fraction of a second in opening, prompting the central computer system to abort the entire mission. Of the three main engines, only No. 2 had been fully ignited. During its 1.7 sec. ignition...