Let's build a rocket, why not? (Quantity precision and efficiency)

Oh no.. Not rocket science. Anything but that... Well too bad because that is what we are doing. There are many factors of chemistry and physics that you must focus on for this but we are mostly looking at the chemistry side. The most important part of rockets is the efficiency of them. They have just enough of all chemicals to use. Any small amount of ignorance can lead so much wasted materials and have a large impact on how our rocket might fly (Or not). To know how to find the right amount first we have to understand rockets.

We are creating a monopropellant rocket for an orbital maneuvering system that is meant to slow a space shuttle to escape velocity after an orbit. In case you didn't notice theres no oxygen in empty space. In order to have a reaction we need an oxidizer N2O4, 8,174 kilograms of methylhydrazine is being used as fuel, we need to find the amount of oxidizer we need and add 15% of reactant to that amount to account for anything that may be lost.

The types of calculations we learn in class are perfect for the greatest amount of efficiency and to have precise measurements because any small factor can throw off a spaceship and ruin a whole mission (Thats why NASA uses them, we got the same amount that they did.). In any experiment, lab, spaceship engineering center, or even when baking. Every number is important and impressive numbers can have terrible results.

This is the mars climate orbiter which costs over one-hundred and twenty-five million dollars. It was recently thrown off course 100km and crashed which ended the whole 296 day flight. Why would such a thing happen when everything is so precise and perfect. It is the most unbelievable mistake you are ever going to know. One side of development used the metric system, while the other used the english system. 

Hopefully NASA learned their lesson from this mistake and will never make a mistake like this again. Hopefully you won't either when you are designing a rocket or conducting a science lab or you will have a lot of problems.

References

Lloyd, R. (n.d.). CNN - Metric mishap caused loss of NASA orbiter - September 30, 1999. [online] Cnn.com. Available at: http://www.cnn.com/TECH/space/9909/30/mars.metric.02/ [Accessed 15 Jun. 2015].

Wikipedia, (2014). Space Shuttle Orbital Maneuvering System. [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Orbital_Maneuvering_System [Accessed 15 Jun. 2015].

Wikipedia, (2015). Mars Climate Orbiter. [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter [Accessed 15 Jun. 2015].

Wikipedia, (2015). Monomethylhydrazine. [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomethylhydrazine [Accessed 15 Jun. 2015].