Everyday Astronaut
@Erdayastronaut · Nov 17, 2020
Now that SpaceX has developed full flow reliably(ish), how relatively hard would it be to do an ox rich closed cycle engine in your opinion? I know you won’t further evolve Merlin, but a closed cycle Merlin vac would be spicy! (Especially cuz you can’t film cool the extension) 😂
Elon Musk
@elonmusk
Merlin is a strong local maximum design, but kerosene is suboptimal fuel, no matter what you do.
What matters is cost per ton to Mars. CH4 is the only choice imo. Important: O2/CH4 allows OF ratio of ~3.5 vs ~2.5 for kerosene, so ~78% of propellant is oxygen.
06:28 PM · November 17, 2020 · 0 views
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