CONTROL & DESIGN STANDARDS: MONITORING

Experience has shown that approximately one-half of all parts cleaned fail to meet either the particulate or the nonvolatile residue specifications for liquid oxygen systems. The use of liquid oxygen requires the maintenance of scrupulously clean systems. Once a mixture of lox and petroleum-based surface contaminants is ignited, the reaction may proceed violently, even explosively.

Old photo of an early rocket exploding on the pad.
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Florida Space Research Institute ©2002