a_v_bw_o_n (ca. 1964/65, TRW/STL photo no. 95784-64)
“LEM (Lunar Excursion Module) engine to land astronauts on the moon. Built by TRW Systems.”
Being a circa 1964/65 photograph, I’m assuming this to be a test model/version of the Lunar Module Descent Engine (LMDE)/Descent Propulsion System (DPS). The first flight of an (unmanned) lunar module (LM-1), which tested both ascent & descent stage engines, occurred in January 1968.
Excellent information per Flickr user Tim Evanson:
“The Descent Propulsion System (DPS) or LMDE (Lunar Module Descent Engine) is a rocket engine developed by Space Technology Laboratories for use in the Apollo Lunar Module. This is a backup engine, on display at the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland, Ohio.
The design is credited to aerospace engineer Dr. Peter Staudhammer. The engine could throttle between 1,050 pounds-force (4.7 kN) and 10,125 pounds-force (45.04 kN). It weighed 394 pounds, is 90.5 inches long, and 59.0 inches in width.
The descent engine was the biggest challenge and the most outstanding technical development of the Apollo program. A throttleable engine was required, but very little research had been done in variable-thrust rocket engines.
Rocketdyne had proposed an engine in which thrust was controlled by the injection of inert helium gas into the propellant. While plausible, this approach was considered too advanced to be reliable.
TRW's Space Technology Laboratories (STL) proposed a much simpler design using flow control valves and a variable-area pintle injector (which operates in much the same manner as does a shower head). Furthermore, it recommended that the engine be gimbaled, to allow it to change the direction of thrust.
The first full-throttle firing of the STL descent engine was carried out in early 1964. NASA chose the STL design in January 1965.”
The accompanying image posted by Mr. Evanson is linked to below.
Good stuff:
www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/LM09_Main_Propulsion_ppMP1-22.pdf
Always superior:
heroicrelics.org/info/lm/mech-design-lmde.html
Credit: Mike Jetzer/HEROIC RELICS website
a_v_bw_o_n (ca. 1964/65, TRW/STL photo no. 95784-64)
“LEM (Lunar Excursion Module) engine to land astronauts on the moon. Built by TRW Systems.”
Being a circa 1964/65 photograph, I’m assuming this to be a test model/version of the Lunar Module Descent Engine (LMDE)/Descent Propulsion System (DPS). The first flight of an (unmanned) lunar module (LM-1), which tested both ascent & descent stage engines, occurred in January 1968.
Excellent information per Flickr user Tim Evanson:
“The Descent Propulsion System (DPS) or LMDE (Lunar Module Descent Engine) is a rocket engine developed by Space Technology Laboratories for use in the Apollo Lunar Module. This is a backup engine, on display at the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland, Ohio.
The design is credited to aerospace engineer Dr. Peter Staudhammer. The engine could throttle between 1,050 pounds-force (4.7 kN) and 10,125 pounds-force (45.04 kN). It weighed 394 pounds, is 90.5 inches long, and 59.0 inches in width.
The descent engine was the biggest challenge and the most outstanding technical development of the Apollo program. A throttleable engine was required, but very little research had been done in variable-thrust rocket engines.
Rocketdyne had proposed an engine in which thrust was controlled by the injection of inert helium gas into the propellant. While plausible, this approach was considered too advanced to be reliable.
TRW's Space Technology Laboratories (STL) proposed a much simpler design using flow control valves and a variable-area pintle injector (which operates in much the same manner as does a shower head). Furthermore, it recommended that the engine be gimbaled, to allow it to change the direction of thrust.
The first full-throttle firing of the STL descent engine was carried out in early 1964. NASA chose the STL design in January 1965.”
The accompanying image posted by Mr. Evanson is linked to below.
Good stuff:
www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/LM09_Main_Propulsion_ppMP1-22.pdf
Always superior:
heroicrelics.org/info/lm/mech-design-lmde.html
Credit: Mike Jetzer/HEROIC RELICS website