Apollo Spacecraft Launch Debris?

Question

During the footage of some of the old Apollo spacecraft launches you can see a lot of white debris falling off of the rocket. It looks like ice, but I'm just not sure what it is. Anyone know what it is and why it happens?

Answer 1

The rockets used liquid oxygen and Hydrogen for fuel. This stuff is cold. As Florida is humid, ice forms due to condensation. Vibration on lift off breaks up the ice and the pieces fall away.

According to a website:

QUESTION:
In the movie Apollo 13 when the rocket takes off, ice chunks are seen falling off. The movie takes place in Florida where it is at least 80 degrees F so where did this ice come from?

ANSWER from Dean Davis on 16 February 2005:
The Apollo Saturn V rocket used a cryogenic (super cold) mixture of Liquid Hydrogen (LH2) propellant & Liquid Oxygen (LOX) oxidizer as its rocket fuel, like the Space Shuttle External Tank (ET).

This rocket fuel is much colder than outside ambient (normal temperature) air, so it tends to condense on the outside of the rocket (like water droplets on the outside of a Coke can after taking it out of the refrigerator on a hot day). This typically occurs near fueling vents where it turns to frost and ice. During liftoff, these chunks of frost and ice fall off.

It is currently believed that this ice problem combined with poorly designed foam insulation on the outside of the Space Shuttle External Tank resulted in damaging the Columbia's forward wing edge Thermal Protective System and caused the destruction of the last Shuttle during reentry into the Earth's atmosphere.

Answer 2

It is ice. All three stages of the rocket used liquid oxygen, and the top two used liquid hydrogen as fuel. These fuels are very cold, so ice forms on the outisde of the tank from the water in the humid Florida air. When the engines ignite the vibrations shake it loose.

Answer 3

It is ice. The liquid rocket fuel is kept at very low temperatures and as it is burned the temperature gets even lower, like a butane bottle cools down quickly as the compressed gas is used, moisture in atmosphere freezes onto the tanks and the ice is dislodged by the violent vibrations of the powerful engines.