Editing 2114: Launch Conditions

{{comic
| number    = 2114
| date      = February 20, 2019
| title     = Launch Conditions
| image     = launch_conditions.png
| titletext = Though I do think the tiny vent on one of the boosters labeled "O-RING" is in poor taste.
}}

==Explanation==

An image of a rocket (presumably a {{w|Long March 5}}) with a progressively larger white cloud around it is shown, but no external object for scale is visible until the third panel.
It is then revealed to be a model or miniature when Ponytail walks into the shot.

The dialog reveals the miniature rocket is a domestic {{w|humidifier}} appliance, using its plumes of water mist to mimic the appearance of the exhaust plume of a full-size rocket.

Modern rocket launches are backed by a ''Sound Suppression System'' avoiding damages to the rocket itself, the payload, or humans inside. This system drops vast amounts of water into the exhaust of the rocket engines and the water vaporizes immediately. This vapor mainly interrupts the sound reflections from the ground. This reduces the sound to a level the rocket can withstand but also produces a big cloud of water mist. The cloud at the ground consists mostly of water and not the exhaust of the rocket engines. This article shows how the system works: [https://interestingengineering.com/nasa-sound-suppression-system-prevents-rocket-from-exploding NASA's Incredible Sound Suppression System Prevents Rockets from Exploding (interestingengineering.com)].

Some rockets use liquid hydrogen as a fuel, especially for upper stages, so steam is the combustion product.

This comic was posted the day after the death of Peter Cosgrove was reported. He was known for photographing many Space Shuttle launches.

The title text references the failed o-ring that led to the {{Wikipedia|Space Shuttle Challenger disaster|disintegration of the ''Challenger'' Space Shuttle}}. 
This disaster was a focal point of controversy, which Richard Feynman played a key {{w|Rogers_Commission_Report#Role_of_Richard_Feynman|role in piercing}}.  The o-ring in question failed to expand at freezing temperatures, resulting in a leak of gas around the edges that was visible as a small vapor plume on the recording.  The launch was pushed to a day with lower temperatures than the engineers had planned for.  For the humidifier to vent the water mist from this opening is indeed in poor taste, even though the model does not resemble a shuttle.

Richard Feynman had a famous story regarding the o-ring incident.  There was a meeting where nobody could figure out why the launch had failed.  They were all scratching their heads, arguing.  Feynman walks into the room with an o-ring and, in front of everybody, drops it into a glass of icewater.  It immediately ruptures.  He then walks out.  http://www.feynman.com/science/the-challenger-disaster/

==Transcript==
:[A rocket sits on a launch pad and the tower to the left has retracted its access arms. The engines seem to have just started firing and a small cloud at the bottom is visible.]

:[The rocket still sits on the pad but the cloud is growing and extending to both sides on the ground.]

:[Ponytail's head, much larger than the rocket, appears above the rocket on the right. The cloud covers the full ground and hides a bigger part of the rocket.]

:[Zoom out. Ponytail stands behind a pedestal with a rocket model on top and the cloud is all around the bottom of the rocket and below.]
:Off screen: It's still pretty dry in here.
:Ponytail: I love the new humidifier, though.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Space]]