Lift-off and what is missing

I just watched a YT vid of a Russian rocket launch .No big deal right . Well I was wondering why there was no con-trail or smoke trail .What kind of situation or rocket fuel are those sneaky Russians using . Super Vodka fuel :>) So maybe its nothing but I though I would put it here for others to have a look at and maybe hear what ATS thinks This is a longer version that the contrail appears in .

Not sure but probably solid fuel initial boost stage to get past a lot of that annoying gravity and then after X distance start the vodka liquid powered stage as they will probably need oxygen more in the second/third stage to be self contained than they will at the start, also the loss of the solid fuel weight and being up in the air makes it easier so you need less fuel for part B and if something goes wrong and someone presses the big red button there won't be much of anything left to cause much annoyance.

a reply to: the2ofusr1

They are burning rocket-grade kerosene.

The trail you typically see is water vapor. How much you see of it depends on atmospheric conditions.

Aye- note that they're launching in the cold. We usually launch in sticky hot humid florida.

originally posted by: moebius
a reply to: the2ofusr1

They are burning rocket-grade kerosene.

The trail you typically see is water vapor. How much you see of it depends on atmospheric conditions.

Correct. For example, the space shuttle's main engines burn liquid hydrogen (with a liquid oxygen oxidizer).

So for the shuttle, the by-product of the combustion process itself of the hydrogen fuel would be water vapor, and a lot of it. Water vapor is invisible, but in more humid air, it can condense out and become a water cloud.

if you look real carefully you can see there is a slight grey contrail its just not very thick