"The card-gap test is used to determine the shock sensitivity of a
potentially explosive liquid. A 50-gram block of tetryl (high
explosive) is detonated beneath a 40cc sample of the liquid in question,
contained in a 3" length of 1" iron pipe sealed at the bottom with a
thin sheet of Teflon. If the liquid detonates, it punches a hole in the
target plate, of 3/8" boiler plate, sitting on top of it. The
sensitivity of the liquid is measured in the number of "cards", discs of
0.01" thick cellulose acetate, which must be stacked between the tetryl
and the sample to keep the latter from going off. Zero cards means
relatively insensitive, a hundred cards means that you'd better forget
the whole business. As may be imagined, the test is somewhat noise, and
best done some distance from human habitation, or, at least, from humans
who can make their complaints stick."

"Two people can operate the card-gap apparatus, and three operators is
optimum. But when LRPL did this particular job (the feather-bedding at
Picatinny was outrageous) there were about seven people on site - two or
three engineers, and any number of rocket mechanics dressed (for no
particular reason) in acid-proof safety garments. So there was a large
audience for the subsequent events. The old destroyer gun turret which
housed our card-gap setup had become a bit frayed and tattered from the
shrapnel it had contained. (The plating on a destroyer is usually thick
enough to keep out the water and the smaller fish.) So we had installed
an inner layer of armor plate, standing off about an inch and a half
from the original plating. And, as the setup hadn't been used for
several months, a large colony of bats - yes, bats, little Dracula types
- had moved into the gap to spend the winter. And when the first shot
went off, they all came boiling out with their sonar gear fouled up,
shaking their heads and pounding their ears. They chose one rocket
mechanic - as it happens, a remarkably goosy character anyway - and
decided that it was all his fault. And, if you, gentle reader, have
never seen a nervous rocket mechanic, complete with monkey suit, being
buzzed by nine thousand demented bats and trying to beat them off with
shovel, there is something missing from your experience."

from 'Ignition!: An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants' by
John D Clark
https://www.amazon.com/Ignition-Informal-Propellants-University-Classics/dp/0813595835/

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

On Friday, March 18, 2022 at 9:02:16 PM UTC-4, Dimensional Traveler wrote:
> "The card-gap test is used to determine the shock sensitivity of a
> potentially explosive liquid. A 50-gram block of tetryl (high
> explosive) is detonated beneath a 40cc sample of the liquid in question,
> contained in a 3" length of 1" iron pipe sealed at the bottom with a
> thin sheet of Teflon. If the liquid detonates, it punches a hole in the
> target plate, of 3/8" boiler plate, sitting on top of it. The
> sensitivity of the liquid is measured in the number of "cards", discs of
> 0.01" thick cellulose acetate, which must be stacked between the tetryl
> and the sample to keep the latter from going off. Zero cards means
> relatively insensitive, a hundred cards means that you'd better forget
> the whole business. As may be imagined, the test is somewhat noise, and
> best done some distance from human habitation, or, at least, from humans
> who can make their complaints stick."
>
> "Two people can operate the card-gap apparatus, and three operators is
> optimum. But when LRPL did this particular job (the feather-bedding at
> Picatinny was outrageous) there were about seven people on site - two or
> three engineers, and any number of rocket mechanics dressed (for no
> particular reason) in acid-proof safety garments. So there was a large
> audience for the subsequent events. The old destroyer gun turret which
> housed our card-gap setup had become a bit frayed and tattered from the
> shrapnel it had contained. (The plating on a destroyer is usually thick
> enough to keep out the water and the smaller fish.) So we had installed
> an inner layer of armor plate, standing off about an inch and a half
> from the original plating. And, as the setup hadn't been used for
> several months, a large colony of bats - yes, bats, little Dracula types
> - had moved into the gap to spend the winter. And when the first shot
> went off, they all came boiling out with their sonar gear fouled up,
> shaking their heads and pounding their ears. They chose one rocket
> mechanic - as it happens, a remarkably goosy character anyway - and
> decided that it was all his fault. And, if you, gentle reader, have
> never seen a nervous rocket mechanic, complete with monkey suit, being
> buzzed by nine thousand demented bats and trying to beat them off with
> shovel, there is something missing from your experience."
>
> from 'Ignition!: An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants' by
> John D Clark
> https://www.amazon.com/Ignition-Informal-Propellants-University-Classics/dp/0813595835/

Excellent book, recently republished.

Pt

Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> schrieb:

> from 'Ignition!: An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants' by
> John D Clark
> https://www.amazon.com/Ignition-Informal-Propellants-University-Classics/dp/0813595835/

If you happen to work in the chemical industry, this is a book to
scare your safety people with.

Also priceless: The foreword by Isaac Asimov.

Quote:

Now it is clear that anyone working with rocket fuels is
outstandingly mad. I don't mean garden-variety crazy or a merely
raving lunatic. I mean a record-shattering exponent of far-out
insanity.

There are, after all, some chemicals that explode shatteringly,
some that flame ravenously, some that corrode hellishly, some
that poison sneakily, and some that stink stenchily. As far as I
know, though, only liquid rocket fuels have all these delightful
properties combined into one delectable whole.

(You can also find the book as a PDF, linked off its Wikipedia
article).

On 19/03/2022 03.24, Thomas Koenig wrote:
> Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> schrieb:
>
>> from 'Ignition!: An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants' by
>> John D Clark
>> https://www.amazon.com/Ignition-Informal-Propellants-University-Classics/dp/0813595835/
>
> If you happen to work in the chemical industry, this is a book to
> scare your safety people with.
>
> Also priceless: The foreword by Isaac Asimov.

The forward reminded me of the "1941" section of Smith's _Triplanetary.
Roderick Kinnison works in a munitions plant (in Entwhistle, Missikota,
if I recall correctly), in which multiple "events" happen.

> (You can also find the book as a PDF, linked off its Wikipedia
> article).

I was unable to find the wikipedia article, but I did find the PDF.
For the convenience of others with equally poor search skills:
<http://www.sciencemadness.org/library/books/ignition.pdf>

--
Michael F. Stemper
Exodus 22:21

On 19/03/2022 12.32, Michael F. Stemper wrote:
> On 19/03/2022 03.24, Thomas Koenig wrote:
>> Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> schrieb:
>>
>>> from 'Ignition!: An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants' by
>>> John D Clark
>>> https://www.amazon.com/Ignition-Informal-Propellants-University-Classics/dp/0813595835/
>>
>> If you happen to work in the chemical industry, this is a book to
>> scare your safety people with.
>>
>> Also priceless: The foreword by Isaac Asimov.
>
> The forward reminded me of the "1941" section of Smith's _Triplanetary.
> Roderick Kinnison works in a munitions plant (in Entwhistle, Missikota,
> if I recall correctly), in which multiple "events"  happen.

I seem to be having trouble with names this week. It was Ralph Kinnison,
not Roderick.

--
Michael F. Stemper
Exodus 22:21

"Michael F. Stemper" <michael.stemper@gmail.com> writes:
>On 19/03/2022 03.24, Thomas Koenig wrote:
>> Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> schrieb:
>>
>>> from 'Ignition!: An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants' by
>>> John D Clark
>>> https://www.amazon.com/Ignition-Informal-Propellants-University-Classics/dp/0813595835/
>>
>> If you happen to work in the chemical industry, this is a book to
>> scare your safety people with.
>>
>> Also priceless: The foreword by Isaac Asimov.
>
>The forward reminded me of the "1941" section of Smith's _Triplanetary.
>Roderick Kinnison works in a munitions plant (in Entwhistle, Missikota,
>if I recall correctly), in which multiple "events" happen.
>
>> (You can also find the book as a PDF, linked off its Wikipedia
>> article).
>
>I was unable to find the wikipedia article, but I did find the PDF.
>For the convenience of others with equally poor search skills:
><http://www.sciencemadness.org/library/books/ignition.pdf>

There's also Derek Lowe's _Things I won't Work With_, e.g.

https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/things-i-won-t-work-dioxygen-difluoride

Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> writes:

<snip hilarious story>
> from 'Ignition!: An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants' by
> John D Clark
> https://www.amazon.com/Ignition-Informal-Propellants-University-Classics/dp/0813595835/

That's a *great* book. It can also be found at
https://library.sciencemadness.org/library/books/ignition.pdf

Darn, I distinctly remember him mentioning how much easier red fuming
nitric acid was to work with than other hypergolic oxydizers they were
using, but can't find it now...

In article <t1548n$q3a$2@dont-email.me>,
"Michael F. Stemper" <michael.stemper@gmail.com> wrote:

> On 19/03/2022 12.32, Michael F. Stemper wrote:
> > On 19/03/2022 03.24, Thomas Koenig wrote:
> >> Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> schrieb:
> >>
> >>> from 'Ignition!: An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants' by
> >>> John D Clark
> >>> https://www.amazon.com/Ignition-Informal-Propellants-University-Classics/d
> >>> p/0813595835/
> >>
> >> If you happen to work in the chemical industry, this is a book to
> >> scare your safety people with.
> >>
> >> Also priceless: The foreword by Isaac Asimov.
> >
> > The forward reminded me of the "1941" section of Smith's _Triplanetary.
> > Roderick Kinnison works in a munitions plant (in Entwhistle, Missikota,
> > if I recall correctly), in which multiple "events"  happen.
>
> I seem to be having trouble with names this week. It was Ralph Kinnison,
> not Roderick.

I think I have seen a claim that the munitions plant scene was taken
directly from E. E. Smith's own WWII experience (in fact, the Wikipedia
article on him mentions this, see
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._E._Smith#The_Lensman_series>).

--
"We have advanced to new and surprising levels of bafflement."
Imperial Auditor Miles Vorkosigan describes progress in _Komarr_.
—-----------------------------------------------------
Robert Woodward robertaw@drizzle.com

On Saturday, March 19, 2022 at 11:35:23 AM UTC-6, Michael F. Stemper wrote:

> I seem to be having trouble with names this week. It was Ralph Kinnison,
> not Roderick.

Oh, well, at least you didn't change his name to Nicholas Roerich, a Russian
artist mentioned a few times in the pages of... H. P. Lovecraft.

John Savard

Michael F. Stemper <michael.stemper@gmail.com> schrieb:
> On 19/03/2022 03.24, Thomas Koenig wrote:
>> Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> schrieb:
>>
>>> from 'Ignition!: An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants' by
>>> John D Clark
>>> https://www.amazon.com/Ignition-Informal-Propellants-University-Classics/dp/0813595835/
>>
>> If you happen to work in the chemical industry, this is a book to
>> scare your safety people with.
>>
>> Also priceless: The foreword by Isaac Asimov.
>
> The forward reminded me of the "1941" section of Smith's _Triplanetary.
> Roderick Kinnison works in a munitions plant (in Entwhistle, Missikota,
> if I recall correctly), in which multiple "events" happen.
>
>> (You can also find the book as a PDF, linked off its Wikipedia
>> article).
>
> I was unable to find the wikipedia article,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignition!_An_Informal_History_of_Liquid_Rocket_Propellants

is a redirect to

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Drury_Clark#ignition

so "article" ist not 100% accurate.

[...]

Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> schrieb:
> Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> writes:
>
><snip hilarious story>
>> from 'Ignition!: An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants' by
>> John D Clark
>> https://www.amazon.com/Ignition-Informal-Propellants-University-Classics/dp/0813595835/
>
> That's a *great* book. It can also be found at
> https://library.sciencemadness.org/library/books/ignition.pdf
>
> Darn, I distinctly remember him mentioning how much easier red fuming
> nitric acid was to work with than other hypergolic oxydizers they were
> using, but can't find it now...

Certainly better than chlorine trifluoride (which has never been
used), or chlorine pentafluoride (likewise).

On 19/03/2022 23.52, Robert Woodward wrote:
> In article <t1548n$q3a$2@dont-email.me>,
> "Michael F. Stemper" <michael.stemper@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On 19/03/2022 12.32, Michael F. Stemper wrote:
>>> On 19/03/2022 03.24, Thomas Koenig wrote:
>>>> Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> schrieb:
>>>>
>>>>> from 'Ignition!: An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants' by
>>>>> John D Clark
>>>>> https://www.amazon.com/Ignition-Informal-Propellants-University-Classics/d
>>>>> p/0813595835/
>>>>
>>>> If you happen to work in the chemical industry, this is a book to
>>>> scare your safety people with.
>>>>
>>>> Also priceless: The foreword by Isaac Asimov.
>>>
>>> The forward reminded me of the "1941" section of Smith's _Triplanetary.
>>> Roderick Kinnison works in a munitions plant (in Entwhistle, Missikota,
>>> if I recall correctly), in which multiple "events"  happen.
>>
>> I seem to be having trouble with names this week. It was Ralph Kinnison,
>> not Roderick.
>
> I think I have seen a claim that the munitions plant scene was taken
> directly from E. E. Smith's own WWII experience (in fact, the Wikipedia
> article on him mentions this, see
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._E._Smith#The_Lensman_series>).

Moskowitz's _Seekers of Tomorrow_ states this.
<http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?102975>

I've also read it someplace reliable, but don't recall where off the
top of my head.

--
Michael F. Stemper
This post contains greater than 95% post-consumer bytes by weight.