Quote:
Originally Posted by leon
Pretty cool John, we probably wouldn't be able to handle the sound, it would be pretty loud i expect. 
So they just light the thing with a sort of gas gun from the kitchen. 
Leon  |
The sparks don't ignite the engines, they are there to burn off excessive build up of combustable gasses on the launch pad before the engines ignite. You could imagine the pop and damage if several hundred cubic metres of gaseous oxygen and hydrogen touched off. The blast effect would probably crush something important.
Awesome engine though. I have seen test footage taken right up the exhaust bell of the actual combustion chamber. The injector is only 10" in diameter, and mixes several tons of fuel and oxidiser a second. That is the really bright light you see of the shuttle after the giant bottle rockets are ditched.