this post was submitted on 18 Jul 2025
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SpaceflightMemes

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[โ€“] Starfighter@discuss.tchncs.de 6 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

I know this is a meme but would that actually help a rocket engine?

They do water injection on some bomber engines and the harrier jump jet, which allows them to run even more fuel through the engine(s).

On a rocket engine this would only make sense inside the combustion chamber, not the nozzle?

Does flash boiling water in the nozzle add enough pressure to overcome the pressure reduction from cooling down the exhaust gasses?

[โ€“] threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

I think adding water to the exhaust gases would increase the thrust of the engine and increase the specific impulse per unit mass of fuel and oxidizer, but at the cost of lower specific impulse of the rocket overall, due to, y'know, needing to carry all that water.

Unless fuel and oxidizer are super expensive for some reason, you might as well just carry more of them, rather than water.