Hybrid Rocket Engine
Regrets for the casualties, hats off to test pilots, they pay the price for progress.
Was interested in the rocket motor. It burns rubber or plastic?!! It's called a "hybrid rocket engine" as it is neither a solid nor a liquid fueled rocket. It uses a solid fuel, and a liquid or gaseous oxidizer which can be throttled. If the oxidizer is oxygen, it can't explode. However, in this case they use nitrous oxide, which has been criticized by rocket scientists as dangerous, as it can explode on its own. I'm NOT a rocket scientist, so I'm just repeating what I read. So perhaps the flame propagated backwards thru the throttle to the tank of nitrous oxide. In any case, they will figure this out and we will move forward.