Space Shuttle main engines

Also for the Space Shuttle main engine, an LH2-LOX fuel system was selected which is installed in the External Tank. The LOX tank has a volume of 550 m, the LH2 tank has a volume of 1575 m both consisting of aluminum with a 2.5 m foam insulation [80]. The three high-pressure engines for the Space Shuttle reach a thrust of 2.1 MN each [84]. 

Fig. 8.37 Schematic of a Space Shuttle main engine with its components for the updated Block II versions that began flying missions in April 2002.

A further and key decision was made in that SIAT, in light of the problems uncovered, had recommended additional external reviews of the space shuttle main engine (SSME), the solid rocket boosters (SRB) and the external fuel tank (ET), mentioned earlier. The SIAT team members felt they did not have the required expertise or time to perform these reviews The need to end the SIAT investigation arose simply because we had exceeded the time commitments of the team members. Of the recommended external reviews only the review of the SSME was performed. It was argued that the shuttle program had been reviewed to death and the recommended reviews would be performed in due course by the ASAP. 

The high reliability of Si3N4 ceramics is demonstrated by hybrid bearings in the main engine pump of the space shuttle [644] and different components in the aircraft s auxiliary power units [650, 651],... 

The main engines of the space shuttle burn hydrogen and oxygen, with water as the product. Is this synthetic (human-made) water the same as water found in nature Explain. 

Out of the bipropellant mixtures shown in Table 2.7, only a few are used in practial applications. In particular, L0X/H2 has proven useful in the cryogenic main engines of the civil Space Shuttle and Ariane V. The Aestus upper stage of the Ariane V relies on using NTO/MMH. The engines of the Delta (RS-27) and Atlas rockets... 

Other forms of carbon-carbon composites have been or are being developed for space shuttle leading edges, nuclear fuel containers for satellites, aircraft engine adjustable exhaust nozzles, and the main structure for the proposed National Aerospace plane (34). For reusable applications, a silicon carbide [409-21-2] based coating is added to retard oxidation (35,36), with a boron [7440-42-8] based sublayer to seal any cracks that may form in the coating. 

Oxygen, in the form of LOX, is widely used as the oxidizing agent in many kinds of rockets and missiles. As an example, the huge external fuel tank required to lift the space shnttle into space holds 145,000 gal (550,000 1) of liquid oxygen and 390,000 gal (1,500,000 1) hydrogen. When these two elements react in the shuttle s main engines, they provide a maximum thrust of 512,000 lb (232,000 kg). 

Once ignited, this reaction occurs spontaneously. However, the reaction can be controlled, such as in the main engine of the space shuttle. 

The main engines in the space shuttle Endeavour use hydrogen and oxygen as fuel. 

The three main engines of the space shuttle use more than 547,000 kg of liquid oxygen and approximately 92,000 kg of liquid hydrogen. 

Fig. 8.36 Schematic diagram of Space Shuttle external tank that contains the liquid hydrogen and oxygen storage systems and supplies these propellants to the three main engines in the Orbiter.

And this is not yet the endl The US space shuttle has two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters (SRBs) made in a factory in Utah. It has been alleged that the engineers who designed the SRBs would have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site. The railroad line from the factory happens to run through a tunnel in the mountains, and the SRBs had to fit through that tuimel. The tunnel is only slightly wider than the railroad track, and we now know the story behind the width of the track ... 

The turbopump of the space shuttle s main engines uses liquid hydrogen at -250 degrees Celsius, but at the end of combustion, the temperature climbs to more than 3,300 degrees Celsius. The turbine of the turbopump is driven by combustion gases and is connected to the impeller, where liquid hydrogen comes in and is pressurized. 

The Space Transportation System (STS) - the space shuttle - consists of an airplanelike orbiter, two solid rocket boosters (SRBs) on either side, and a large cylindrical external tank that holds ciyogenic fuel for the orbiter s main engines. The SRBs detach from the orbiter 2.5 minutes after launch, fall into the ocean, and are recovered for reuse. The external tank is not reused. It is jettisoned as the orbiter reaches Earth orbit, and disintegrates as it falls into the Indian Ocean (Smith, 2003). 

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