SpaceX had demonstrated it—Pad 40 alone was a master class in creativity, not to mention the innovative ways it had built its rockets in-house. What, she wanted to know, was Blue Origin’s secret? The answer, in part, was citric acid. For a while the company had been using a toxic cleaner for its engine nozzles, which it intended to reuse. But that cleaner was expensive and difficult to handle—it had to be used in a separate, clean room because it was so toxic. Then someone discovered that citric acid worked just as well. So, the company started buying it by the gallon, an easier, less
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