All metal expulsion system using volatile liquid pressurization Final report
Design, development, fabrication, and testing of flight weight volatile liquid all metal expulsion system for reaction control storable propellants
SEARCH · Search NASA
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.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
Design, development, fabrication, and testing of flight weight volatile liquid all metal expulsion system for reaction control storable propellants
Liquid rocket acoustic instability for hydrogen-oxygen and earth storable propellant combinations
Throat and nozzle insert design for ablative rocket engine using storable propellants
Engine performance and kinetic flow performance in nozzles using four space storable propellant combinations
Radiation effects on liquid propellant storability and computer program for shield optimization
Mechanical and nonmechanical controls for earth and space storable propellants for liquid rocket propulsion
Results of bipropellant valve program with applications to earth storable propellants
The auxiliary power unit (APU) for the space shuttle is required to provide hydraulic and electrical power on board the booster and orbiter vehicles. Five systems and their associated components, which utilize hot gas turbines to supply horsepower at gearbox output pads, were studied. Hydrogen-oxygen and storable propellants were considered for the hot gas supply. All APU's were required to be self-contained with respect to dissipating internally generated heat. These five systems were evaluated relative to a consistent criteria. The system supplied with high pressure gaseous hydrogen and oxygen was recommended as the best approach. It included a two-stage pressure-compounded partial-admission turbine, a propellant conditioning system with recuperation, a control system, and a gearbox. The gearbox output used was 240 hp. At the close of the study a 400 hp level was considered more appropriate for meeting the prime shuttle vehicle needs, and an in-depth analysis of the system at the 400 hp output level was recommended.
The auxiliary power unit (APU) for the space shuttle is required to provide hydraulic and electrical power on board the booster and orbiter vehicles. Five systems and their associated components, which utilize hot gas turbines to supply horsepower at gearbox output pads, were studied. Hydrogen-oxygen and storable propellants were considered for the hot gas supply. All APU's were required to be self contained with respect to dissipating internally generated heat. These five systems were evaluated relative to a consistent criteria. The system supplied with high pressure gaseous hydrogen and oxygen was recommended as the best approach. It included a two-stage pressure-compounded partial-admission turbine, a propellant conditioning system with recuperation, a control system, and a gearbox. The gearbox output used was 240 HP. At the close of the study a 400 HP level was considered more appropriate for meeting the prime shuttle vehicle needs, and an in-depth analysis of the system at the 400 HP output level was recommended.
Studies to evaluate advanced technology relative to chemical upper stages and orbit-to-orbit stages are reported. The work described includes: development of LH2/LOX stage data, development of data to indicate stage sensitivity to engine tolerance, modified thermal routines to accommodate storable propellants, added stage geometries to computer program for monopropellant configurations, determination of the relative gain obtainable through improvement of stage mass fraction, future propulsion concepts, effect of ultrahigh chamber-pressure increases, and relative gains obtainable through improved mass fraction.
The competing auxiliary propulsion concepts for the reusable space shuttle vehicle are defined. The concepts are compared on the basis of selection criteria such as weight, reliability, and technology requirements. Propulsion systems using both cryogenic oxygen-hydrogen and earth storable propellants were considered. Three high value oxygen-hydrogen reaction control system concepts were evaluated. The final comparisons demonstrate that all three concepts are viable design approaches. The flexibility and growth potential of the parallel concept are considered to provide an advantage over the series concept.
An in-depth study of an Earth Storable Bimodal (ESB) Engine using earth storable propellants N2O/N2H4 and operating in either a monopropellant or bipropellant mode was conducted. Detailed studies were completed for both a hot-gas, regeneratively cooled thrust chamber and a ducted hot-gas, film cooled thrust chamber. Hydrazine decomposition products were used for cooling in either configuration. The various arrangements and configurations of hydrazine reactors, secondary injectors, chambers and gimbal methods were considered. The two basic materials selected for the major components were columbium alloys and L-605. The secondary injector types considered were previously demonstrated by JPL and consisted of a liquid-on-gas triplet, a liquid-on-gas doublet, and a liquid-on-gas coaxial injector. Various design tradeoffs were made with different reactor types located at: the secondary injector station, the thrust chamber throat, and the nozzle/extension interface. Associated thermal, structural, and mass analyses were completed.
The reusable space tug is a major system being planned for use with the space shuttle to augment its capability to deliver, retrieve, and support automated payloads. The reusable space tug will be designed to support all the planned missions beyond low earth orbit including geosynchronous orbit. Tug missions and requirements are discussed together with tug options, giving attention to existing transfer stages and growth stages. System studies for an interim tug concept are planned to begin in February 1973. Three independent studies will be conducted: two on cryogenic tugs and one on storable propellant tugs.-
The technical feasibility of achieving automatic rendezvous and docking in Mars orbit as a part of a surface sample return mission was investigated based on using as much existing Viking '75 Orbiter and Lander hardware as possible. Both 1981 and 1983/84 mission opportunities were considered. The principle result of the study was the definition of a three stage 289 kg Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) capable of accepting a 1 kg sample, injecting itself into a 2200 km circular orbit, and rendezvousing with an orbiting spacecraft carrying an earth return vehicle. Conclusions are that with state of the art systems plus limited application of new developments in areas where feasibility has already been demonstrated, e.g., solid rocket motor sterilization, it is possible to land a small ascent vehicle capable of automatically ascending and rendezvousing with a modified Viking '75 orbiter spacecraft. The mission can be flown in 1981 or 1983/84, but a dual launch or a larger launch vehicle than the Viking Titan 3 Centaur, or the use of space storable propellants for Mars orbit injection, would be required in the 1983/84 opportunity.
The phenomenon of reactive stream separation (RSS) in the N2O4/amine earth-storable propellant combinations is reviewed. Early theoretical models of RSS are presented, as are experimental combustion data under simulated rocket conditions. N2O4/amine combustion chemistry data is also provided. More recent work in the development of a comprehensive model is described.
An operating manual for the feed system coupled stability model was given, in partial fulfillment of a program designed to develop, verify, and document a digital computer model that can be used to analyze and predict engine/feed system coupled instabilities in pressure-fed storable propellant propulsion systems over a frequency range of 10 to 1,000 Hz. The first section describes the analytical approach to modelling the feed system hydrodynamics, combustion dynamics, chamber dynamics, and overall engineering model structure, and presents the governing equations in each of the technical areas. This is followed by the program user's guide, which is a complete description of the structure and operation of the computerized model. Last, appendices provide an alphabetized FORTRAN symbol table, detailed program logic diagrams, computer code listings, and sample case input and output data listings.
Planetary orbit mission capabilities will be greatly improved by the advent of space-storable retro-propulsion systems with liquid fluorine/hydrazine as bipropellants, even when the Space Shuttle/Space Tug is used as launch vehicle. With a specific impulse as high as 375 sec, a multimission propulsion module designed for Pioneer or Mariner class spacecraft as payload and using space-storable propellants, can perform Mercury, Saturn and Uranus orbiter missions, and even some comet rendezvous missions. It also can reduce trip times to the outer planets significantly. The paper presents mission requirements, propulsion technology status, system design, performance, development schedules and cost data, based on results of a recent design and feasibility study.
Space disposal of selected components of military high-level waste (HLW) is considered. This disposal option offers the promise of eliminating the long-lived radionuclides in military HLW from the earth. A space mission which meets the dual requirements of long-term orbital stability and a maximum of one space shuttle launch per week over a period of 20-40 years, is a heliocentric orbit about halfway between the orbits of earth and Venus. Space disposal of high-level radioactive waste is characterized by long-term predictability and short-term uncertainties which must be reduced to acceptably low levels. For example, failure of either the Orbit Transfer Vehicle after leaving low earth orbit, or the storable propellant stage failure at perihelion would leave the nuclear waste package in an unplanned and potentially unstable orbit. Since potential earth reencounter and subsequent burn-up in the earth's atmosphere is unacceptable, a deep space rendezvous, docking, and retrieval capability must be developed.