Prepping F-1 Engines (October/November 2007)

Marshall was preparing to display two F-1 rocket engines: F-5036, which had recently been displayed in front of Building 4200, and F-4023, which was pulled from storage.

F-5036 had been displayed vertically and was already in a fairly clean but could use a little sprucing up, while F-4023, which was on an engine handler, was covered in a brown goo after years in storage. Whether this brown goo was some sort of preservative which was purposely applied or whether it was the accumulation of nearly 40 years of grime, it had to be removed prior to being put on display.

Marshall chose Cold Jet dry ice blasting for this purpose. The company claims that dry ice blasting offers a more effective and sustainable alternative for general cleaning than other methods such as abrasive, soda, and sandblasting.

During dry ice blasting, CO₂ particles are blasted at supersonic speeds and sublimate on impact, lifting dirt and contaminants off the item being treated. Dry ice is a non-abrasive, soft media which does not harm the item being treated and does not produce secondary waste (e.g., left-over sand from sand blasting) as it simply sublimates into gas.

F-5036 was treated in late October and F-4023 in early November 2007.