What could possibly go wrong?

In article ,
Steve Leonard wrote:


And, you would probably need two "ropes" back to the rocket if you wanted to
fuel it once you got to altitude. Rockets generally get fuel and oxidizer
and you really don't want them mixed before they go into the combustion
chamber. Thus, a need for seperate fuel lines from the tanker.

Yeah, I forgot about oxidizer. The discussion I had with the rocket guys
was that either fuel or oxidizer would be on board the spaceplane at
takeoff and the tanker would load the other in flight. Which would
depend, of course, on the type of propellant and oxidizer used (cryo,
density, etc.).


Yeah, mixing fuel and oxidizer before you get to the combustion chamber
is generally considered a bad idea for rockets. Some past work, military
mostly, has looked at various fuel oxidizer mixtures and the subject
comes around regularly with people who aren't familiar with rocket
development. Heck, like most things to do with aeronautics, space
flight, or guns someone has tried nearly every crazy idea.

Hmm, now lessee, can I neck down this 55 gallon drum to a .22...

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