Abstract
In many commercial ventures, it isn’t unusual to develop a product without developing an engine to power it. This is because there is a ready availability of engines in different power ranges, which allows companies to produce an array of machines almost as quickly as they can be imagined. Even in highly specialized applications, where the final product is built in limited production numbers, the power plant is usually common almost to the point of being mundane. This is not the case when it comes to space launch systems.
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Notes
- 1.
In an open-cycle process, some of the propellant is burned in a gas generator and the resulting hot gas is used to power the engine’s pumps. The gas is then exhausted, hence the term “open cycle”. In the staged combustion cycle, some of the propellant is burned in a pre-burner and the resulting hot gas is used to power the engine’s turbines and pumps. The exhausted gas is then injected into the main combustion chamber, along with the rest of the propellant, and combustion is completed.
- 2.
Established in 1988, the AIAA’s George M. Low Space Transportation Award honors the achievements in space transportation by Dr George M. Low, who played a leading role in planning and executing the Apollo missions. The biennial award is presented for a timely outstanding contribution to the field of space transportation. Musk’s citation read: For outstanding contribution to the development of commercial space transportation systems using innovative low-cost approaches.
- 3.
In a multi-manifested mission, a restart capability allows delivery of separate payloads to different altitudes and inclinations.
- 4.
As you can imagine, firing a rocket results in tremendous heat, with combustion temperatures reaching 2,500-3,600 K. To cool the thrust chamber, rocket designers use a variety of chamber-cooling techniques, the most widely used of which is regenerative cooling. This method cools the thrust chamber by flowing high-velocity coolant over the back side of the chamber hot gas wall to convectively cool the hot gas liner. The coolant with the heat input from cooling the liner is then discharged into the injector and utilized as a propellant.
- 5.
Cassini carried 33 kilograms of plutonium spread among 18 modular units, each with its own heat shield and impact shell. These containers were tested to destruction and found to release plutonium only in much harsher conditions than were likely to be present during launch.
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Seedhouse, E. (2013). The engines: The workhorses of commercial spaceflight. In: SpaceX. Other Springer-Praxis books of related interest by Erik Seedhoose. Praxis, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5514-1_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5514-1_3
Publisher Name: Praxis, New York, NY
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