Propulsive potential of residual rocket motor heat
Quenched residual rocket motor heat for vacuum propulsion
Ansell, J. L.↗
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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.
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Space nuclear propulsion mid-decade.
Space propulsion systems including solid core nuclear rockets, electric propulsion thrustors and nuclear electric generators
ELECTRIC PROPULSION↗
Solar Thermal Propulsion Optical Figure Measuring and Rocket Engine Testing
Solar thermal propulsion has been an important area of study for four years at the Propulsion Research Center. Significant resources have been devoted to the development of the UAH Solar Thermal Laboratory that provides unique, high temperature, test capabilities. The facility is fully operational and has successfully conducted a series of solar thruster shell experiments. Although presently dedicated to solar thermal propulsion, the facility has application to a variety of material processing, power generation, environmental clean-up, and other fundamental research studies. Additionally, the UAH Physics Department has joined the Center in support of an in-depth experimental investigation on Solar Thermal Upper Stage (STUS) concentrators. Laboratory space has been dedicated to the concentrator evaluation in the UAH Optics Building which includes a vertical light tunnel. Two, on-going, research efforts are being sponsored through NASA MSFC (Shooting Star Flight Experiment) and the McDonnell Douglas Corporation (Solar Thermal Upper Stage Technology Ground Demonstrator).
Bonometti, Joseph↗
Rocket drops: The self-propulsion of supercooled freezing drops
Isolated supercooled water drops have been observed to move spontaneously while freezing in vacuum. This motion is caused by an increase of the evaporation rate during the early stages of freezing, which transfers momentum to the drops, similar to rocket propulsion. As in other cases of self-propulsion, symmetry-breaking is necessary, and occurs when ice nucleation occurs away from the center of the drop. The self-propulsion velocity was modeled analytically for a simplified case, and numerically for two experiments. Here, the model predicts peak velocities on the order of 1 m/s in vacuum, and a drop kinematics similar to that observed experimentally. In air, the self-propulsion velocity is expected to be much smaller but may be detectable for micron-sized drops.
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
Rocket Based Combined Cycle (RBCC) Propulsion Workshop, volume 2
The goal of the Rocket Based Combined Cycle (RBCC) Propulsion Technology Workshop, was to impart technology information to the propulsion community with respect to hypersonic combined cycle propulsion capabilities. The major recommendation resulting from this technology workshop was as follows: conduct a systems-level applications study to define the desired propulsion system and vehicle technology requirements for LEO launch vehicles. All SSTO and TSTO options using the various propulsion systems (airbreathing combined cycle, rocket-based combined cycle, and all rocket) must be considered. Such a study should be accomplished as soon as possible. It must be conducted with a consistent set of ground rules and assumptions. Additionally, the study should be conducted before any major expenditures on a RBCC technology development program occur.
Chojnacki, Kent T.↗
Analytical study of nozzle performance for nuclear thermal rockets
Nuclear propulsion has been identified as one of the key technologies needed for human exploration of the Moon and Mars. The Nuclear Thermal Rocket (NTR) uses a nuclear reactor to heat hydrogen to a high temperature followed by expansion through a conventional convergent-divergent nozzle. A parametric study of NTR nozzles was performed using the Rocket Engine Design Expert System (REDES) at the NASA Lewis Research Center. The REDES used the JANNAF standard rigorous methodology to determine nozzle performance over a range of chamber temperatures, chamber pressures, thrust levels, and different nozzle configurations. A design condition was set by fixing the propulsion system exit radius at five meters and throat radius was varied to achieve a target thrust level. An adiabatic wall was assumed for the nozzle, and its length was assumed to be 80 percent of a 15 degree cone. The results conclude that although the performance of the NTR, based on infinite reaction rates, looks promising at low chamber pressures, finite rate chemical reactions will cause the actual performance to be considerably lower. Parameters which have a major influence on the delivered specific impulse value include the chamber temperature and the chamber pressures in the high thrust domain. Other parameters, such as 2-D and boundary layer effects, kinetic rates, and number of nozzles, affect the deliverable performance of an NTR nozzle to a lesser degree. For a single nozzle, maximum performance of 930 seconds and 1030 seconds occur at chamber temperatures of 2700 and 3100 K, respectively.
Davidian, Kenneth O.↗
Initial Test Firing Results for Solid CO/GOX Cryogenic Hybrid Rocket Engine for Mars ISRU Propulsion Applications
ORBITEC is developing methods for producing, testing, and utilizing Mars-based ISRU fuel/oxidizer combinations to support low cost, planetary surface and flight propulsion and power systems. When humans explore Mars we will need to use in situ resources that are available, such as: energy (solar); gases or liquids for life support, ground transportation, and flight to and from other surface locations and Earth; and materials for shielding and building habitats and infrastructure. Probably the easiest use of Martian resources to reduce the cost of human exploration activities is the use of the carbon and oxygen readily available from the CO2 in the Mars atmosphere. ORBITEC has conducted preliminary R&D that will eventually allow us to reliably use these resources. ORBITEC is focusing on the innovative use of solid CO as a fuel. A new advanced cryogenic hybrid rocket propulsion system is suggested that will offer advantages over LCO/LOX propulsion, making it the best option for a Mars sample return vehicle and other flight vehicles. This technology could also greatly support logistics and base operations by providing a reliable and simple way to store solar or nuclear generated energy in the form of chemical energy that can be used for ground transportation (rovers/land vehicles) and planetary surface power generators. This paper describes the overall concept and the test results of the first ever solid carbon monoxide/oxygen rocket engine firing.
Rice, Eric E.↗
Perigree Propulsion for Orbital Launch of Nuclear Rockets
A thrust program called perigee propulsion which minimizes gravity loss is analyzed. Thrust is applied intermittently in regions of high velocity (near successive perigees). The increased energy-addition efficiency yields mass ratios approaching those for impulsive velocity change. Corresponding times to reach desired energy are in days but are still small relative to mission times. For specified orbital-launch missions, perigee- propulsion nuclear-rocket systems are shown to equal continuous-thrust performance with reactor powers an order of magnitude less than those of continuous-thrust systems. Application and operational aspects of perigee propulsion are discussed.
Johnson, Paul G.↗
Spherical rocket motors for space and upper stage propulsion.
Spherical solid propellant rocket motor design for space and upper stage propulsion, describing empirical equations and computer program
Andrews, W. G.↗
Nuclear Thermal Propulsion: A Joint NASA/DOE/DOD Workshop
Papers presented at the joint NASA/DOE/DOD workshop on nuclear thermal propulsion are compiled. The following subject areas are covered: nuclear thermal propulsion programs; Rover/NERVA and NERVA systems; Low Pressure Nuclear Thermal Rocket (LPNTR); particle bed reactor nuclear rocket; hybrid propulsion systems; wire core reactor; pellet bed reactor; foil reactor; Droplet Core Nuclear Rocket (DCNR); open cycle gas core nuclear rockets; vapor core propulsion reactors; nuclear light bulb; Nuclear rocket using Indigenous Martian Fuel (NIMF); mission analysis; propulsion and reactor technology; development plans; and safety issues.
Clark, John S.↗
Advances in solid-fuel propulsion systems for tactical rockets
The objective of this paper is to present a brief survey of three areas in which advances of solid propulsion have enabled improved design of tactical rockets. The three areas are microwave attenuation, acceleration-combustion interactions, and performance optimization. In each of the three areas, improved understanding has significantly contributed to rocket technology. The problems remaining are far from solved, however, and the three subjects are fruitful areas for fundamental investigations.
Charles B Henderson↗
Low Thrust Propulsion
This video presents an overview of low thrust rocket engine propulsion concepts for space missions. Chemical and electrical rocket engines are shown. Animation illustrates various propulsion applications.
Source record↗
Transcritical diffuse-interface hydrodynamics of propellants in high-pressure combustors of chemical propulsion systems
Rocket engines and high-power new generations of gas-turbine jet engines and diesel engines oftentimes involve the injection of one or more reactants at subcritical temperatures into combustor environments at high pressures, and more particularly at pressures higher than those corresponding to the critical points of the individual components of the mixture, which typically range from 13 to 50 bars for most propellants. This class of trajectories in the thermodynamic space has been traditionally referred to as transcritical. However, the fundamental understanding of fuel atomization, vaporization, mixing, and combustion processes at such high pressures remains elusive. In particular, whereas fuel sprays are relatively well characterized at normal pressures, analyses of dispersion of fuel in high-pressure combustors are hindered by the limited experimental diagnostics and theoretical formulations available. The description of the thermodynamics of hydrocarbon-fueled mixtures employed in chemical propulsion systems is complex and involves mixing-induced phenomena, including an elevation of the critical point whereby the coexistence region of the mixture extends up to pressures much larger than the critical pressures of the individual components. As a result, interfaces subject to surface-tension forces may persist in multicomponent systems despite the high pressures, and may give rise to unexpected spray-like atomization dynamics that are otherwise absent in monocomponent systems above their critical point. In this article, the current understanding of this phenomenon is reviewed within the context of propulsion systems fueled by heavy hydrocarbons. Emphasis is made on analytical descriptions at mesoscopic scales of interest for computational fluid dynamics. In particular, a set of modifications of the constitutive laws in the Navier–Stokes equations for multicomponent flows, supplemented with a high-pressure equation of state and appropriate redefinitions of the thermodynamic potentials, are introduced in this work based on an extended version of the diffuse-interface theory of van der Waals. The resulting formulation involves revisited forms of the stress tensor and transport fluxes of heat and species, and enables a description of the mesoscopic volumetric effects induced by transcritical interfaces consistently with the thermodynamic phase diagram of the mixture at high pressures. Additionally, applications of the theory are illustrated in canonical problems, including dodecane/nitrogen transcritical interfaces in non-isothermal systems. The results indicate that a transcritical interface is formed between the propellant streams that persists downstream of the injection orifice over distances of the same order as the characteristic thermal-entrance length of the fuel stream. The transcritical interface vanishes at an edge that gives rise to a fully supercritical mixing layer.
02 PETROLEUM↗
Non-chemical space propulsion.
Replacement of chemical launching rockets by advanced propulsion system, with particular reference to nuclear rocket
NUCLEAR ROCKET↗
Saving Lives With Rocket Power
Thiokol Propulsion uses NASA's surplus rocket fuel to produce a flare that can safely destroy land mines. Through a Memorandum of Agreement between Thiokol and Marshall Space Flight Center, Thiokol uses the scrap Reusable Solid Rocket Motor (RSRM) propellant. The resulting Demining Device was developed by Thiokol with the help of DE Technologies. The Demining Device neutralizes land mines in the field without setting them off. The Demining Device flare is placed next to an uncovered land mine. Using a battery-triggered electric match, the flare is then ignited. Using the excess and now solidified rocket fuel, the flare burns a hole in the mine's case and ignites the explosive contents. Once the explosive material is burned away, the mine is disarmed and no longer dangerous.
Source record↗
Rocket Based Combined Cycle (RBCC) Propulsion Technology Workshop. Volume 1: Executive summary
The goal of the Rocket-Based Combined Cycle (RBCC) Propulsion Technology Workshop was to assess the RBCC propulsion system's viability for Earth-to-Orbit (ETO) transportation systems. This was accomplished by creating a forum (workshop) in which past work in the field of RBCC propulsion systems was reviewed, current technology status was evaluated, and future technology programs in the field of RBCC propulsion systems were postulated, discussed, and recommended.
Chojnacki, Kent T.↗
Past and Present Large Solid Rocket Motor Test Capabilities
A study was performed to identify the current and historical trends in the capability of solid rocket motor testing in the United States. The study focused on test positions capable of testing solid rocket motors of at least 10,000 lbf thrust. Top-level information was collected for two distinct data points plus/minus a few years: 2000 (Y2K) and 2010 (Present). Data was combined from many sources, but primarily focused on data from the Chemical Propulsion Information Analysis Center s Rocket Propulsion Test Facilities Database, and heritage Chemical Propulsion Information Agency/M8 Solid Rocket Motor Static Test Facilities Manual. Data for the Rocket Propulsion Test Facilities Database and heritage M8 Solid Rocket Motor Static Test Facilities Manual is provided to the Chemical Propulsion Information Analysis Center directly from the test facilities. Information for each test cell for each time period was compiled and plotted to produce a graphical display of the changes for the nation, NASA, Department of Defense, and commercial organizations during the past ten years. Major groups of plots include test facility by geographic location, test cells by status/utilization, and test cells by maximum thrust capability. The results are discussed.
Kowalski, Robert R.↗
Rocket Engine Altitude Simulation Technologies
John C. Stennis Space Center is embarking on a very ambitious era in its rocket engine propulsion test history. The first new large rocket engine test stand to be built at Stennis Space Center in over 40 years is under construction. The new A3 Test Stand is designed to test very large (294,000 Ibf thrust) cryogenic propellant rocket engines at a simulated altitude of 100,000 feet. A3 Test Stand will have an engine testing chamber where the engine will be fired after the air in the chamber has been evacuated to a pressure at the simulated altitude of less than 0.16 PSIA. This will result in a very unique environment with extremely low pressures inside a very large chamber and ambient pressures outside this chamber. The test chamber is evacuated of air using a 2-stage diffuser / ejector system powered by 5000 lb/sec of steam produced by 27 chemical steam generators. This large amount of power and flow during an engine test will result in a significant acoustic and vibrational environment in and around A3 Test Stand.
Woods, Jody L.↗