Monday, August 12, 2024

Texas defends Mars from our colonists

I napped off so am awake a little later. The big news is ... The News. Drudge Report notes this News, then Richard M.: a pollution-problem just north of the Rio Bravo delta.

This is a Texas State agency, their Commission on Environmental Quality; not the EPA. I would take it more seriously. Also out: Shotwell's rebuttal. We don't have Robert Zimmerman's rebuttal yet except that he dislikes CNBC's reportage, for which he has a point.

What TxCEQ mainly has noted is mercury in the water. The agency blames the deluge system which was forced upon SpaceX after that notable launchpad blast last year. It sprays a lot of water against jets of high-temperature exhaust. The exhaust should just be more water (as steam) with carbon-dioxide and maybe trace monoxides and nitrogen oxides. But the temperatures also might cause engine damage "ablation", which adds metals to the water.

The behindtheblack commentariat is skeptical that the engines should own any mercury, and certainly the cargo won't. Wouldn't mercury be bad for other metals? But there may exist mercury in the fuel as was sent down to Boca Chica. The volume of fuel all ejected at one time may eject a dose of mercury.

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