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The SR-71's predecessor used cesium-laced fuel to create radar-absorbing exhaust

thedrive.com

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Re: The SR-71's predecessor used cesium-laced fuel to create radar-absorbing exhaust

#111

Post by jhonkola »

sokoloff wrote: post #101
regularfry wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uranium is... not nice stuff. I wouldn't classify it as "not particularly toxic". https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2819790/

This is in the context of a substance we’re trying to use to destroy enemy tanks and kill/injure combatants, not make s’mores out of.

Though it remains in the environment even after the operation and civilians will be exposed to it. This has been the case in e.g. Balkans (https://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/07/world/radiation-from-balk...) and also in Iraq (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/19/us-depleted-ur...)

Re: The SR-71's predecessor used cesium-laced fuel to create radar-absorbing exhaust

#112

Post by matthewdgreen »

dmix wrote: post #51
nabla9 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I completely different view. Rogoway's is not into critical thinking or good analysis. He is also deeply into monetizing Navy-UFO conspiracy.

> He is also deeply into monetizing Navy-UFO conspiracy. A lot of these otherwise sensible warfare blogs are getting heavily into this. I don't understand it. But clearly it attracts a big audience and they've always been a niche blog topic so I guess they like the attention.

I've ready Rogoway's articles on this. He starts from real and public announcements by the U.S. military -- which is pretty newsworthy -- and then he spends a lot of time trying to come up with sensible, scientific explanations. See for example this article that compares the sightings to recent designs for radar-reflecting balloons [1]. TL;DR: the Navy made this newsworthy. Rogaway just seems to be doing reasonable investigative work from that starting point.

[1] https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/28640/could-some-of-th...

Re: The SR-71's predecessor used cesium-laced fuel to create radar-absorbing exhaust

#113

Post by snowwrestler »

Daniel_sk wrote: post #80
taneq wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Comanche vented its turbine exhaust into the wash from the tail rotor, iirc, to make it harder to spot. It also used a 5-blade rotor instead of the traditional 2-blade rotor in order to make it quieter. There's a bunch of cool things we could do to make helicopters more stealthy if we cared enough.

There is some stealth helicopter model that is secret and was used in the operation to kill Osama, it may be a heavily modified UH-60.

My recollection is that the contemporary reporting was pretty specific about what it was: an existing chopper with stealth tech grafted on. Something about that (the weight or shape) reduced lift and led to a crash landing during the mission.

Some Google around NYTimes would probably turn up the details.

Re: The SR-71's predecessor used cesium-laced fuel to create radar-absorbing exhaust

#114

Post by sverige »

tapland wrote: post #81
austinheap wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Feels like a stretch that multiple military personnel went on record and conspired to make this up for the clicks on a blog? Far easier ways to drive traffic.

The pilots seeing it wasn't what drove traffic. It was suppression of terrestrial explanations and lack of critical thinking by reporters.

Can you please point me to the terrestrial explanation for the recent spate of "snake-like" UFO sightings?

In the absence of any positive evidence for its existence, I don't believe there is extra-terrestrial life. But I haven't seen any logical explanation for some of the widely observed phenomena, either. I usually assume it involves secret government projects.

Re: The SR-71's predecessor used cesium-laced fuel to create radar-absorbing exhaust

#115

Post by mnw21cam »

jabl wrote: post #79
treggle wrote: post #11

Of course, because nothing matters more than getting the advantage. Same line of thinking that results in depleted uranium tank shells.

Apparently back in the day they were seriously considering ClF5 as the next generation oxidizer for rocket propellants. Implying that the rocket exhaust would to a large extent consist of HF and HCl. Yikes!

ITYM ClF3 (Chlorine Trifluoride) which earned the now famous description "hypergolic with test engineers". https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2008/02/26/sa...

Equally funny is where someone thought that it would be a wonderful idea to burn mercaptans in a rocket, which wasn't quite as toxic, but caused the test site to become a no-go zone just from the unbearable stench.

Re: The SR-71's predecessor used cesium-laced fuel to create radar-absorbing exhaust

#117

Post by jbattle »

wbl wrote: post #95
TheSpiceIsLife wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't follow this line of reasoning. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't astronomy the scientific study of celestial objects; and astrophysics is the branch of astronomy concerned with the physical nature of those celestial objects. Why would either of those be the right consultants for UFOs, which are decidedly not celestial objects.

Astronomy includes knowing when you aren't doing it and instead seeing an artifact of your instruments or weather.

> Astronomy includes knowing when you aren't doing it and instead seeing an artifact of your instruments or weather

One would hope fighter pilots have some faculty in said skills!

Re: The SR-71's predecessor used cesium-laced fuel to create radar-absorbing exhaust

#118

Post by [deleted] »

dkersten wrote: post #91
austinheap wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

NY Times: ‘Wow, What Is That?’ Navy Pilots Report Unexplained Flying Objects https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/26/us/politics/ufo-sightings...

As Neil Degrasse Tyson once said, even pilots aren't astronomers or astrophysicists and often don't know what they're seeing when they look at the sky.

[deleted]

Re: The SR-71's predecessor used cesium-laced fuel to create radar-absorbing exhaust

#119

Post by jacobush »

tempguy9999 wrote: post #78
syntaxing wrote: post #5

I know it's toxic but from a technical aspect, that is really cool. I remember reading that the Apache Helicopter (I think?) can redirect it's exhaust internally temporarily to become invisible to heat seekers. Some of these technologies are super fun to read about.

> I know it's toxic but from a technical aspect, that is really cool. People who think like this make want to cry. Those who can see the consequences and choose to overlook them.

You comment is toxic but from a technical aspect, really cool. I choose to overlook it.
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