NASA Makes It Rain

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tcarrier32's avatar
tcarrier32
Posts: 1,497
Jan 9, 2012 12:00am
[video=youtube;xURZ-tDYiyc][/video]

Not a new concept, but cool to see it in action. Basically NASA has an engine that pushes out massive amounts of water vapor in the form of a cloud. Makes it rain shortly thereafter. Pretty neat.
Classyposter58's avatar
Classyposter58
Posts: 6,321
Jan 9, 2012 1:06am
tcarrier32;1044531 wrote:[video=youtube;xURZ-tDYiyc][/video]

Not a new concept, but cool to see it in action. Basically NASA has an engine that pushes out massive amounts of water vapor in the form of a cloud. Makes it rain shortly thereafter. Pretty neat.
Kinda scary that we have the power to mess with mother nature
Tobias Fünke's avatar
Tobias Fünke
Posts: 2,387
Jan 9, 2012 1:15am
Awesome stuff.

But...why do it?
-Society-'s avatar
-Society-
Posts: 1,348
Jan 9, 2012 1:17am
Tobias Fünke;1044568 wrote:Awesome stuff.

But...why do it?
You honestly couldn't see any reason they would do this?
hoops23's avatar
hoops23
Posts: 15,696
Jan 9, 2012 1:18am
I'll be impressed when they add thunder, lightning, tornadoes, and tsunamis.
Classyposter58's avatar
Classyposter58
Posts: 6,321
Jan 9, 2012 1:18am
Tobias Fünke;1044568 wrote:Awesome stuff.

But...why do it?
Drought would never be an issue again which means an almost unlimited food supply
Tobias Fünke's avatar
Tobias Fünke
Posts: 2,387
Jan 9, 2012 1:30am
Classyposter58;1044572 wrote:Drought would never be an issue again which means an almost unlimited food supply
Naturally the was my first assumption, but this just looks so inefficient.

Are they taking oxygen and combining it with the hydrogen to make the vapor, or is the water already there and they are vaporizing it?
Classyposter58's avatar
Classyposter58
Posts: 6,321
Jan 9, 2012 1:47am
Tobias Fünke;1044574 wrote:Naturally the was my first assumption, but this just looks so inefficient.

Are they taking oxygen and combining it with the hydrogen to make the vapor, or is the water already there and they are vaporizing it?
Probably its a giant steam type of machine. And then a large amount of coalescence takes place because of the heat and force it took to just make the cloud. Once it hits gets higher into the atmosphere and starts hitting more wind and air turbulence it just rings itself out
Tobias Fünke's avatar
Tobias Fünke
Posts: 2,387
Jan 9, 2012 2:05am
I guess I would have thought that a simple desalination plant and standard irrigation would do the trick more efficiently.

It is definitely neat though.
Tobias Fünke's avatar
Tobias Fünke
Posts: 2,387
Jan 9, 2012 2:07am
In short, what's the difference between that and this:

tcarrier32's avatar
tcarrier32
Posts: 1,497
Jan 9, 2012 2:33am
Tobias Fünke;1044590 wrote:In short, what's the difference between that and this:

we'll we'd have to know the chemical composition of the smoke in your photo. what is being produced in the video is just hydrogen and oxygen. the thing being fired is actually a jet engine. so they are using this type of engine, one that emits water vapor, as a possible means for getting astronauts into space. the vapor just so happens to form into clouds and make it rain. the applications are endless, but this isn't free energy or anything.