It’s not everyday that you get to explore rocket engines […]

It’s not everyday that you get to explore rocket engines with Everyday Astronaut. He does incredble deep dives into many rocketry topics, but has a special love for engines: https://everydayastronaut.com and on twitter: https://twitter.com/Erdayastronaut/status/1402820586305245186

We traced all of the LOX and Hydrogen lines around my Pratt & Whitney RL-10 like a couple of excited children. First developed in 1959, the Pratt & Whitney RL 10 was the first hydrogen/oxygen engine, and it still flies today as the upper stage for ULA rockets.

It has carried spacecraft the moon and the sun and every planet in our solar system and beyond. In 1959, hydrogen was considered a dangerous and unpredictable fuel, and little of it was available for research. “It was our trip to Florida to see the RL10 firing that gave me confidence to use hydrogen for Apollo.” — Werner Von Braun in the book Advanced Engine Development at Pratt &Whitney, p.78.

More detail in my earlier post: https://flic.kr/p/8C89Rh