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Topic: Space shuttle main engine

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2001

In the News (Mon 16 Nov 09)

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	Space Shuttle
		Shuttle Operations supports the launch of NASA missions and is the primary program in which efficiencies have been implemented thereby significantly reducing the operational cost of flying the Space Shuttle.
		Space Shuttle functional workforce reviews initiated in early FY 1995 are specifically examining the Space Shuttle's total workforce, in detail, to identify areas where changes to Space Shuttle program requirements, plans or operations approach can lead to cost savings while safely supporting seven flights per year.
		Engine system requirements result in pump discharge pressure levels from 6000 to 8000 psi and turbine inlet temperatures of 2000 Degrees F. In reviewing the most critical items on the SSME that could result in a catastrophic failure, 14 of the top 25 are associated with the turbopumps.
	www.hq.nasa.gov /office/budget/fy96/hsf_3.html (8270 words)

	NASA - Space Shuttle Main Engine Enhancements fact sheet (08/00)
		Each of these powerful main engines is 14 feet (4.2 meters) long, weighs approximately 7,000 pounds (3,150 kilograms) and is 7.5 feet (2.25 meters) in diameter at the end of its nozzle.
		Considered the backbone of the engine, the powerhead consists of the main injector and two preburners, or small combustion chambers.
		A Shuttle engine’s main combustion chamber is where the liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen are mixed and burned to provide thrust.
	www.nasa.gov /centers/marshall/news/background/facts/ssme.html (1019 words)

	NASA - NASA Successfully Tests Space Shuttle Main Engine
		Engineers successfully test-fired an engine for 520 seconds; the time it takes a shuttle to reach orbit.
		Tuesday's engine test is an indication that Stennis and the region are working toward recovering from the storm.
		Other engine parts were tested and certified, such as a fast-response temperature sensor.
	www.nasa.gov /home/hqnews/2005/oct/HQ_05350_main_engine_test.html (279 words)

	Main Engine Testing at 30 (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-03)
		The engine tested was the first complete engine to be tested and shipped in its entirety to Kennedy Space Center, Florida, for installation on Space Shuttle Discovery for STS-114, NASA’s Return to Flight mission.
		The engines are tested on the A-1 and A-2 Test Stands which were built in the 1960s to test the first and second stages of the Apollo Saturn V rocket that safely transported Americans to the Moon.
		After a Shuttle mission, the engines receive post-flight inspections and maintenance at KSC, and then may be shipped back to SSC for a pre-flight acceptance test prior to use on another mission.
	www.stsliftoff.com /rtf/briefings/ssme30/ssme30.htm (1052 words)

	Boeing: Rocketdyne: Space Shuttle Main Engine Amazing Facts (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-03)
		The energy released by three of Rocketdyne's Space Shuttle Main engines is equivalent to the output of 13 Hoover Dams.
		Although not much larger than an automobile engine, the SSME high-pressure fuel turbopump generates 100 horsepower for each pound of its weight, while an automobile engine generates about one-half horsepower for each pound of its weight.
		Even though Rocketdyne's SSME weighs one-seventh as much as a locomotive engine, its high-pressure fuel pump alone delivers as much horsepower as 28 locomotives, while its high-pressure oxidizer pump delivers the equivalent horsepower for 11 more.
	www.boeing.com /defense-space/space/propul/SSMEamaz.html (244 words)

	REFT website
		Of course, the space shuttle was here and one of the major problems that the space shuttle had was the failures of the copper liner in the space shuttle main engine.
		And as the space shuttle main engines, as they were doing testing down at the Stennis and down at the Marshall Space Flight Center, on the engine, after several cycles, the chamber wall would crack on the inner wall.
		So we embarked on a program, space shuttle main engine because of its uncoated configuration, the throat section of the space shuttle main engine reached temperatures in the neighborhood of 1000 degrees, 900 to 1000 degrees Fahrenheit, and the heat flux was a hundred BTUs per inch squared second.
	www.grc.nasa.gov /WWW/retf/textFiles/interviews/Quentmeyer.html (4045 words)

	Space Shuttle Main Engine Controller - Honeywell Aerospace
		Space Shuttle Main Engine Controller, Block II The Honeywell Space Shuttle Main Engine Controller, Block II is an electronic control system for the Space Shuttle main engines.
		One controller is mounted to each of the Space Shuttle's three main engines to monitor and maintain control of each engine's performance.
		Should any performance parameters fall outside the boundaries, it is the responsibility of the engine controllers to shut down the main engines and not permit a launch.
	www.honeywell.com /sites/aero/Data-Processing3_C13A3BD1B-004A-3BC7-09B9-C84A04AECD90_H145DEA6C-0E1E-8AED-3D13-2CE7BE00E400.htm (165 words)

	Ch4-7
		Previous engines were overbuilt in the sense that they were designed to burn at full thrust through their entire....
		The Shuttle engines can adjust flow levels, can sense how close to exploding they are, and can respond in such a way as to maintain maximum performance at all times.
		If engine loss occurs early in a flight, the mission can be aborted through a RTLS maneuver that causes the spacecraft essentially to turn around and fly back to a runway near the launch pad.
	www.hq.nasa.gov /office/pao/History/computers/Ch4-7.html (1693 words)

	Space Shuttle Main Engine Test
		Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSME) have been flying for more than 20 years, yet those flying today are much more capable and reliable than those that lifted STS-1 on April 12, 1981.
		This increased capability and reliability and the fact that these engines are used to lift people and not just cargo, requires a continuous program of testing to assure the safety of the astronauts and their cargo.
		The Stennis Space Center in south Mississippi is responsible for testing and flight certifying the SSME.
	science.nasa.gov /enginetest (239 words)

	Space Shuttle Main Engine Controller
		The engine itself is designed to be reusable for 55 missions totaling 7.5 hr of cumulative operating time, and to operate at a variable thrust level commanded by the Orbiter.
		It provided the flexibility and ease of change needed during the engine research and development phase along with the eventual autonomy and adaptability necessary in a fully operational system.
		It provides the capability of monitoring engine operating conditions and performs various types of safing operations depending on the nature of anomalous or failure conditions detected real-time during flight.
	klabs.org /DEI/Processor/shuttle/ssme_controller (648 words)

	[No title] (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-03)
		The primary modification to the engine is elimination of welds by using a casting process for the housing, and an integral shaft/disk with thin-wall blades and ceramic bearings.
		Each powerful main engine is 14 feet long, weighs about 7,000 pounds and is 7.5 feet in diameter at the end of the nozzle.
		When it and the liquid oxygen are combusted, the temperature in the main combustion chamber of the engine is 6,000 degrees Fahrenheit (3,316 degrees Celsius), hotter than the boiling point of iron.
	quest.arc.nasa.gov /space/news/2001/04-26a.txt (500 words)

	Space Shuttle Main Engines: is there a future? Rockwell and Boeing
		The engines are vastly over-powered and "idle along" at well below their rated power during normal operation: the engines are not stressed.
		Rocketdyne's Sally Stohler said she thinks the Space Shuttle Main Engines are still capable of the original fifty-five re- flight goal.
		Because of its association with the Shuttle, the SSME "is perceived in a terrible light.
	www.speakeasy.org /~donaldfr/ssme.htm (2878 words)

	Pratt & Whitney - Products - Space - Rocketdyne (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-03)
		The Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) is the most reliable and highly tested large rocket engine ever built.
		Using a mixture of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, the SSME can attain a maximum thrust level (in vacuum) of 512,950 pounds which is equivalent to greater than 12,000,000 horsepower.
		The Space Shuttle Main Engine Main Engines are being upgraded to incorporate the Large Throat Main Combustion Chamber (LTMCC) to further improve the reliability of the engine systems.
	www.pratt-whitney.com /prod_space_rdyne_ssme.asp (218 words)

	Boeing: Rocketdyne: Space Shuttle Main Engine (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-03)
		The Space Shuttle Main Engine is the most reliable and highly tested large rocket engine ever built.
		The SSME is a reusable, staged-combustion cycle engine.
		In conjunction with the LTMCC, the Main Injector is redesigned to maintain the high Specific Impulse (Isp) output of the engines.
	www.boeing.com /defense-space/space/propul/SSME.html (207 words)

	Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) - Summary
		The SSME has achieved 100% flight success and a demonstrated reliability of over 0.9999.
		The SSME is a re-usable, staged combustion liquid oxygen / liquid hydrogen engine.
		The 77.5 : 1 area ratio nozzle was selected to optimize SSME performance along it's flight path from lift-off to orbit.
	www.spaceandtech.com /spacedata/engines/ssme_sum.shtml (59 words)

	Space Shuttle Engine Facts
		The energy released by three of Rocketdyne's Space Shuttle Main Engines is equivalent to the output of 37 Hoover Dams.
		A Space Shuttle and its boosters ready for launch are the same height as the Statue of Liberty but weigh almost three times as much.
		The Space Shuttle main engine weighs 1/7th as much as a train engine, but delivers as much horsepower as 39 train engines.
	www.coopsjokes.com /amz/amzshutl.htm (414 words)

	NASA tests space shuttle main engine (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-03)
		Engineers at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi this week successfully test-fired an engine for 520 seconds -- the time it takes a shuttle to reach orbit.
		The scientists say the engine test is an indication Stennis and the region are working toward recovering from the hurricane.
		The monitoring system is an upgrade that provides a significant improvement for lower risk for shuttle main engines, officials said.
	science.monstersandcritics.com /news/printer_1058027.php (193 words)

	The Shuttle's Mission - Shuttle Fun Facts
		The turbopump on the Space Shuttle main engine is so powerful it could drain an average family-sized swimming pool in 25 seconds.
		The liquid hydrogen in the Space Shuttle main engine is -423 degrees Fahrenheit (-253 degrees Centigrade), the second coldest liquid on Earth, and when burned with liquid oxygen, the temperature in the engine's combustion chamber reaches +6,000 degrees F. (+3,316 degrees C.)
		The energy released by the three Space Shuttle main engines is equivalent to the output of 23 Hoover Dams.
	chandra.harvard.edu /launch/shuttle/fun_facts.html (501 words)

	MSFC Propulsion Center of Excellence is Built on Solid Foundation
		By then, NASA engineers were already deep into the design for the space shuttle main engine, a concept that broke with the past, according to shuttle historian Dennis R. Jenkins.
		The shuttle main engine was also designed as the first propulsion system with a computer mounted directly on the engine to control operation and automatically make corrective adjustments or shut down the engine safely.
		On various occasions during different tests, engineers confronted a fire that started in the engine's main oxidizer valve, a major fracture in the housing for the main fuel valve, the rupture of a nozzle fuel coolant feedline, and a fire that burned through the engine's fuel preburner.
	history.msfc.nasa.gov /saturn_apollo/propulsion_center.html (3693 words)

	Spaceflight Now \| Breaking News \| Problem aborts shuttle main engine test firing
		A space shuttle main engine equipped with a next-generation fuel turbopump was damaged during an aborted test firing last week, NASA officials said Thursday.
		During the hotfire, the engine was supposed to operate at hotter temperatures than normal, pushing the envelope of the powerplant's design to demonstrate its capability, NASA spokesman Ed Medal said.
		Medal said the incident is not expected to delay the next space shuttle mission, saying the engine that shut down was in a much different configuration than those currently in use.
	spaceflightnow.com /news/n0006/23ssmeabort (460 words)

	Untitled Document
		For the History of the Space Shuttle Main Engines, interviews with management and engineers at Marshall, and informal interviews with engineers at Rocketdyne, were made.
		The engine now requires very frequent maintenance and replacement of important parts, such as turbopumps, bearings, sheet metal housings, etc. The high-pressure fuel turbopump had to be replaced every three or four mission equivalents (although that may have been fixed, now) and the high pressure oxygen turbopump every five or six.
		Engineers at marshal estimate it as 1/300, while NASA management, to whom these engineers report, claims it is 1/100,000.
	www.ranum.com /security/computer_security/editorials/dumb/feynman.html (5154 words)

	Biography-Byron K. Wood
		The main objectives of this presentation are to discuss how the SSME has and is being upgraded for greater safety, reliability and performance.
		Main Engine will reliably provide in each mission the eight-and-a-half minutes of power needed to safely boost international crews to their desired targets in space.
		This was a particularly important upgrade in that it allowed modification of the engine operating environment producing twice the reliability margin of its predecessors.
	www.house.gov /science/wood_102199.htm (1678 words)

	SPACE.com -- New Main Shuttle Engine Promises Safer Ride
		Previous improvements to the space shuttle main engine include the Block 1 configuration, which featured an improved high-pressure liquid oxygen turbopump, a two-duct engine power head and a single-coil heat exchanger.
		Each powerful main engine is 14 feet (4.3 meters) long, weighs about 7,000 pounds (3,175 kilograms) and is 7.5 feet (2.3 meters) in diameter at the end of the nozzle.
		When the fuel and liquid oxygen are combusted, the temperature in the main combustion chamber of the engine is 6,000 degrees Fahrenheit (3,316 degrees Celsius), hotter than the boiling point of iron.
	www.space.com /businesstechnology/technology/new_shuttle_engine_010426.html (632 words)

	Pratt & Whitney - Services - Space - Space Shuttle Program (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-03)
		Periodic overhauls and repairs take place on the turbopumps that are used on the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME).
		The small but powerful turbopumps individually provide 76,000 horsepower to deliver liquid hydrogen or 26,800 horsepower to deliver liquid oxygen to the shuttle engine’s main combustion chamber for ignition.
		Overhaul for Pratt and Whitney's LOX turbopump is required after the equivalent of 11 Shuttle missions.
	www.pratt-whitney.com /serv_space_ssp.asp (203 words)

	TRIZ Solves A Reliability Problem Concerning A Space Shuttle Class Main Engine
		Colliding with the hardware, a particle, having a very high velocity because of the flow of GOX, would increase the temperature of the hardware in the proximity of the collision to a level beyond which its material could not resist the oxygen.
		The engine includes a tank with liquid hydrogen, a tank with liquid oxygen (LOX), the main combustion chamber, and the nozzle.
		From analysis of the simplified schematic of the engine, it is known that GOX is not pure oxygen.
	www.triz-journal.com /archives/1999/01/d (1865 words)

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