Posted on 11/17/2007 10:13:48 AM PST by BenLurkin
MOJAVE - A Mojave-built rocket engine completed its first test series for NASA under a program to aid the agency's quest to return to the moon, Alliant Techsystems announced Friday. Alliant said it has completed testing of a 7,500-pound-force thrust liquid oxygen-methane workhorse engine. The test series provided valuable insights into LOX-methane engine ignition, startup, shutdown, nominal operation, off-nominal operation and dynamic combustion stability, according to the company.
The work was conducted as part of a NASA effort to develop technologies that could be incorporated into a propulsion system for the ascent stage of a lunar lander.
"The workhorse engine may lead to higher performing and lower-cost solutions for expanding our missions into deep space," said Bart Olson, vice president and general manager of ATK's Tactical Propulsion and Controls Division, based in Baltimore. "This new engine could support the lunar lander ascent mission in the near term and other deep space applications in the long term."
ATK and its subcontractor, XCOR Aerospace in Mojave, designed, fabricated and tested the regeneratively cooled LOX-methane engine. The engine design and test data are incorporated into ATK's new design for a flight-like prototype engine that will further mature the LOX-methane regeneratively cooled technology for NASA.
XCOR, based at the Mojave Air and Space Port, designed, built and conducted the initially testing of the engine. XCOR conducted the work under a $3.3 million subcontract with Alliant Techsystems.
"We went from getting the contract to first test firing in six months," XCOR spokesman Douglas Graham said.
Tests to date have been conducted at sea level static conditions. Alliant Techsystems will conduct a series of follow-on tests at its vacuum test facility in Ronkonkoma, N.Y. These tests will allow evaluation of various ignition concepts and demonstrate repeatable ignition characteristics in vacuum, Alliant Techsystems said.
(Excerpt) Read more at avpress.com ...
Space ping
We need better propulsion systems.
Maybe they could harvest the gas of cows...
It’s great to say that. But that’s the same sort of statement as saying “We need better politicians.” It gives no possible solutions, nor does it give value to the difficulty of what it proposes.
We have a better propulsion system that is available near-term. The Gas Core Nuclear Rocket (one type of which is the Nuclear Lightbulb) can in principle create very high specific impulses at very high thrust levels. But let’s see if the vocal environmental lobby would ever let this happen.
We need to expand into space as a society in order to survive. As to the topic at hand, this engine was developed for the original ESAS-specified Orion crew vehicle. The Orion crew vehicle was to have “Mars-forward” technologies such as methane propulsion. But in his infinite wisdom Mike “Shafter” Griffin has decided that hypergolics are better. He’s wrong.
I hope XCOR succeeds in developing this engine further and getting it on the business end of the CEV.
But rockets actually do something positive 95% of the time.
;)
Alliant said it has completed testing of a 7,500-pound-force thrust liquid oxygen-methane workhorse engine. The test series provided valuable insights into LOX-methane engine ignition, startup, shutdown, nominal operation, off-nominal operation and dynamic combustion stability, according to the company.Nice, an engine for in-space startup without the liquid hydrogen handling issues.
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