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AIRP2355-1001
Engine Project
RocketDyne RS-25 / Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME)
Throughout the history of mankind, we as a species have always been
fascinated with the heavens. In ancient times, we did not have a clue about
what went on in the sky. Eventually man began observing patterns of
celestial objects. Some, such as Galileo, began forming controversial ideas
based on those observations. Fast-forward to April 12, 1961 when Soviet
cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin forever linked mankind with the cosmos, by
becoming the first human in the history of mankind to leave Earths
atmosphere.
The vehicle used by Yuri was a Vostok 3KA capsule sitting atop a
Vostok 8K72K rocket. This engine had 118 seconds of burn-time and was
powered by kerosene. Much advancement in the technology of spacecraft
has occurred since the launch of Vostok 1. The U.S. space shuttle program
was the first of its kind, in the sense that it was a reusable aircraft that exited
Earth in the form of a rocket, and landed in the form of an airplane. What
made this possible was the development of the Rocketdyne RS-25, more
commonly referred to as the Space Shuttle Main Engine (or the SSME).
At launch, the Space Shuttle has quite
the array of horsepower. It has three
SSMEs, two Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs),
as well as dual AJ10-190 engines. The
weight of the spacecraft is entirely
supported by the solid rocket boosters while
it sits on the launch pad. The solid rocket
boosters provide extra thrust for the first
two minutes, or 150,000 feet of the ascent,
at which point they separate from the
orbiter and parachute into the ocean. The
auxiliary tank stays with the orbiter beyond
the atmosphere, and burns up upon reentry.
The AJ-10 engines are part of the Orbital
Maneuvering System. Earlier versions were
used in the Apollo Service Module. These
are smaller engines primarily used to
correct any off-course variations in the course of the shuttle through space,
as well as to guide the orbiter into its return path.
The oxidizer follows its own route into the MCC. After going through a
low-pressure oxidizer turbo pump, at 420psi, and also a high-pressure
oxidizer turbo pump at 4,300 psi, the flow of liquid oxygen branches into four
lines. The first is a heat exchanger, where presumably a fluid of some sort is
in an adjacent tank or line to transfer heat from the warmer tank into the
cooler one. The second path it can take is directly to the injectors of the
MCC. The third seems to accomplish the most, aside from providing lift. It
pushes through yet another high-pressure oxidizer turbo pump into the preburners. The expansion of the oxygen here powers the fuel turbo pumps, and
after it does so flows into the hot gas manifold, where it too is injected into
the MCC. The fourth path powers the low pressure turbo oxidizer pump.
Upon entering the MCC, the oxidizer and the fuel are in a gaseous
state, and are mixed together in the injector. The fuel-rich mixture comes
from the hot gas manifolds, mixing in the injector, where it is then introduced
to the Main Combustion Chamber. Inside the MCC itself, there is a small
augmented-spark igniter-chamber which is only active during the first
three seconds of the sequence. Beyond that, and the combustion of the
engine is self-sustaining. The shell of the MCC is made from an alloy made
specifically for the RS-25 during the 1970s. The shell contains channels
running through the sides which allows the liquid hydrogen to double as a
coolant, as previously mentioned.
Controlling this sequence is the Main Engine Controller, or the MEC. It
is mounted straight on the engine and consists of two Motorola processors.
The system is redundant, making a total of two MECs with a total of four
processors. These controllers are wired to the computers inside the cockpit of
the orbiter to be controlled by the crew. If one of these systems fails, it
REFERENCES
http://collectspace.com/review/sts133_ssmechart-lg.jpg
"The Cause of the Accident". Report of the Presidential Commission on the
Space Shuttle Challenger Accident. NASA. June 6, 1986.
http://www.pw.utc.com/products/pwr/assets/pwr_SSME.pdf
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/news/background/facts/ssme.html
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/reference/shutref/orbiter/prop/controllers.
html
ARMY SPACE REFERENCE TEXT
http://www.fas.org/spp/military/docops/army/ref_text/chap6im.htm
SPACE SHUTTLE MAIN ENGINE ORIENTATION from BOEING
http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2011/ph240/nguyen1/docs/SSME_PRESENTATION.p
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