View allAll Photos Tagged rocketengine
Future Artemis lunar landers could use next-generation thrusters, the small rocket engines used to make alterations in a spacecraft's flight path or altitude, to enter lunar orbit and descend to the surface. Before the engines make the trip to the Moon, helping deliver new science instruments and technology demonstrations, they're being tested here on Earth.
NASA and Frontier Aerospace of Simi Valley, California, performed roughly 60 hot-fire tests on two thruster prototypes over the course of 10 days. The tests concluded March 16 and took place in a vacuum chamber that simulates the environment of space at Moog-ISP in Niagara Falls, New York. While replicating mission flight operations, engineers collected multiple data streams, including the pressure and stability of the combustion chamber and the pressure and temperature of the feed system, which delivers propellant from tanks to the thruster.
Being developed under NASA's Thruster for the Advancement of Low-temperature Operation in Space (TALOS) project, the thrusters are designed to reduce spacecraft cost, mass and power – three things that constrain every space mission. Astrobotic Technology of Pittsburgh plans to use the new thrusters aboard their Peregrine lunar lander.
Image credit: Frontier Aerospace
The countdown is on... 🔥
We're getting fired up for the two remaining tests in the 12-part RS-25 certification engine test series being conducted at NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center. Engineers are collecting data from this test series to certify updated engine production for engines that will help power the #SLS rocket for future Artemis flights to the Moon, beginning with Artemis V.
Credit: NASA
#NASA #NASAMarshall #sls #spacelaunchsystem #nasasls #exploration #rocket #Artemis #ArtemisV
The upper stage for NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket that will power the agency’s Artemis III mission and send astronauts on to the Moon for a lunar landing arrived at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Poseidon Wharf in Florida, Aug. 9. It will undergo final checkouts by contractors Boeing and ULA (United Launch Alliance) at ULA’s facilities before it is delivered to NASA’ s nearby Kennedy Space Center.
The SLS rocket’s ICPS (interim cryogenic propulsion stage) with its single RL10 engine is responsible for giving NASA’s Orion spacecraft and astronauts inside the big push needed to journey to the Moon in a precise trajectory during Artemis III. The ICPS for the mission is the last of its kind as Artemis missions beginning with Artemis IV will use the SLS Block 1B configuration with its more powerful exploration upper stage for launch and flight.
Manufactured by ULA, the ICPS left Decatur, Alabama, Aug. 1, traveling down the Mississippi River and along the Gulf Coast toward ULA’s Florida facility via ULA’s RocketShip. The RL10 engine is produced by Aerojet Rocketdyne, the SLS engines lead contractor, in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Image credit: United Launch Alliance
#NASA #NASAMarshall #sls #spacelaunchsystem #nasasls #exploration #rocket #artemis #ArtemisIII #ICPS #astronauts #RocketScience #ICPS #Moon
A test version of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket’s payload adapter is ready for evaluation, marking a critical milestone on the journey to the hardware’s debut on NASA’s Artemis IV mission.
Comprised of two metal rings and eight composite panels, the cone-shaped payload adapter will be part of the SLS Block 1B configuration and housed inside the universal stage adapter atop the rocket’s more powerful in-space stage, called the exploration upper stage. The payload adapter is an evolution from the Orion stage adapter used in the Block 1 configuration of the first three Artemis missions that sits at the topmost portion of the rocket and helps connect the rocket and spacecraft.
Teams at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center manufactured, prepared, and moved the payload adapter test article to the test stand. The payload adapter will undergo testing in the same test stand that once housed the SLS liquid oxygen tank structural test article.
Credit: NASA
#NASA #NASAMarshall #sls #spacelaunchsystem #nasasls #exploration #rocket #artemis
The QM-1 test just completed. smile emoticon
#JourneytoMars #SLSFiredUp
More about SLS:
www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/index.html
More SLS Photos:
www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/multimedia/gallery/S...
Space Launch System Flickr photoset:
www.flickr.com/photos/28634332@N05/sets/72157627559536895/
_______________________________
These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...
Despite the apparent multiple-choice nature of the affixed caption, based on the 8/17/92 date on the caption & loosely, on other sort of similarly numbered photos – I’m going with “b”/“no. 2”.
Obviously, meant for internal consumption, so I’ll cut the NASA photo ‘professionals’ some undeserved slack.
So, I’m going to assume the following applies, regardless of choice:
“VAB/OMEF OPERATIONS.”
With that, my final answer, at least for now, is:
“STS-47. OV-105. BEFORE MATED TO STACK.”
Finally, “CUSTOMER EXPOSED FILM-D’ARCANGELO” means…what? Mr./Ms. D’Arcangelo? Was he/she the photographer? If so, representing/working for/contracted by…the “customer”? Rockwell Int'l/Rocketdyne maybe, based on the “VAB/OMEF” nomenclature in the caption? BTW, there’s very little available on the OMEF, which I’m guessing was located within the VAB & possible predecessor to the Space Shuttle Main Engine Processing Facility (SSMEPF), which appears to have been located within/adjacent(?) to OPF-3. Whatever…close enough.
All that really matters is that it’s a damned good photograph of space flight stuff.
I've forgotten why, but I think these photographs support my identification:
georgesrockets.com/GRP/Scale/ShuttleData/HTMLshuttlepics/...
Credit: George Gassaway's wonderful site, "George's Rocketry Pages" website. No longer maintained, it will mark another sad day when it is no longer available, which I'm sure is sooner rather than later.
In the Rocket Hall. Blue Streak was a British-made medium range ballistic missile (MRBM) designed to carry a nuclear warhead, but then reassigned as the first stage of a civilian satellite launcher rocket called Europa from the mid 1960s through to the early 1970s.
Engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, completed a subscale booster motor test Sept. 14 in Marshall’s East Test Area. The 24-inch booster produced more than 82,000 pounds of thrust. It is the third test in an ongoing series supporting development of an upgraded booster design with alternative nozzle and insulation materials for SLS (Space Launch System) flights after Artemis VIII. Marshall manages the SLS Program.
Image credit: NASA
#NASA #NASAMarshall #sls #spacelaunchsystem #nasasls #exploration #rocket #artemis #moontomars
A three-stage rocket ship – call it Geryon or the X-49 – will eventually be assembled. The large first stage will be put on top of a blast deflector – a yawning hole into which the rocket motors can discharge their exhaust blast. Then the second stage will be put on top of the first, and finally a delta-winged third stage will be placed on top of the second stage.
But first a two-stage ship will be tested, as shown in the illustration. Each stage has wings along with its own pilot and co-pilot. The pilot of the first stage, after the upper delta-winged stage has blasted away from it, will gradually put the rocket into level flight and keep it aloft until air resistance has killed off its high speed. He might even succeed in flying in an enormous circle so that his ship becomes subsonic again for landing.
“The piloted upper stage, in the meantime, has left the atmosphere along a tremendous arc, reaching a peak of 300 or 400 miles above sea level, and more than 2,500 miles from home base. Some 5,000 miles from home base the upper stage re-enters the atmosphere and lands at a base prepared in a suitable location. After this preparation the crew is ready for the three-stage ship, where the upper stage of the two-stage ship is the third stage.”
[Summarizing and Quoting from the text]
An excellent view of the S-I stage (S-I-7), of the SA-7 launch vehicle during assembly in Bldg. 4705, Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), I assume sometime during 1963. I have no idea which Saturn I the other S-I stage is associated with.
The photograph has the familiar “A KODAK PAPER” look & feel, despite devoid of such, or for that matter, any watermark.
NASA’s Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) recently reached some major milestones in support of the Mars Sample Return program. The Mars Ascent Vehicle would be the first launch of a rocket from the surface of another planet. The team developing MAV conducted successful tests of the first and second stage solid rocket motors needed for the launch.
Mars Sample Return will bring scientifically selected samples to Earth for study using the most sophisticated instrumentation around the world. This strategic partnership with ESA (European Space Agency) features the first mission to return samples from another planet. The samples currently being collected by NASA's Perseverance Rover during its exploration of an ancient river delta have the potential to reveal the early evolution of Mars, including the potential for ancient life.
In this image, a development motor based on the second-stage solid rocket motor design for NASA’s Mars Ascent Vehicle undergoes testing March 29, 2023, at Northrop Grumman’s facility in Elkton, Maryland. The two-stage MAV rocket is an important part of the joint plan between NASA and ESA to bring scientifically-selected Martian samples to Earth in the early 2030s.
Image credit: NASA
#NASA #MarshallSpaceFlightCenter #MSFC #rocket #space #Perserverance #Mars2020Rover #Mars #MarsSampleReturnProgram #MarsAscentVehicle
More about the Mars Ascent Vehicle
While wearing clean room suits, the Artemis II crew members (from left: NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, and Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen) check out their Orion crew module inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Aug. 7, 2023. The crew module is undergoing acoustic testing ahead of integration with the European Service Module. Orion will carry the crew around the Moon in the first crewed mission on NASA’s path to establishing a long-term lunar presence for science and exploration under Artemis.
Image Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
#PuppyBowl #SuperBowl #Artemis #ArtemisI #Marshall #Space #NASASLS #Orion #NASA
A ca. 1958/59 conjectural rendering of an X-15 in flight.
Identification as the X 15 is based on the appearance of the photograph and it referenced as such in the 1959 book “Target for Tomorrow: SPACE TRAVEL OF THE FUTURE”, by Dr. I. M. Levitt.
Very nice artwork by M. Anderson, along with his bold, in-your-face signature.
This design image shows a RS-25 rocket engine installed on the A-1 Test Stand at NASA's Stennis Space Center. A line indicates the grey, cross-like thrust frame adapter, which is being fabricated for the stand. The adapter is attached to the thrust measurement system on the stand, and the RS-25 engine is attached to the adapter. The adapter holds the engine in place and absorbs the thrust produced during a test, while allowing accurate measurement of the engine performance.
Image credit: NASA/SSC
Read more:
www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/multimedia/gallery/r...
More about SLS:
www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/index.html
Space Launch System Flickr photoset:
www.flickr.com/photos/28634332@N05/sets/72157627559536895/
_____________________________________________
These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by
the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any
way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...
Four astronauts are busy training for Artemis II, the first mission to carry humans on NASA’s powerful SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft, testing systems to support life in deep space on future Moon missions and expanding the space frontier beyond Earth orbit.
In August, the crew – NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen – finished the first part of their training known as fundamentals, establishing a foundational knowledge of all SLS and Orion systems.
In this image, astronauts (left to right) Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen stand in the white room on the crew access arm of the mobile launcher at Launch Pad 39B as part of an integrated ground systems test at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. The test ensures the ground systems team is ready to support the crew timeline on launch day.
Image credit: NASA
#NASA #NASAMarshall #NASAStennis #sls #spacelaunchsystem #nasasls #exploration #rocket #artemis #moontomars #artemis #ArtemisII
A test version of the universal stage adapter for NASA’s more powerful version of its SLS (Space Launch System) rocket arrived at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, Feb. 22 from Leidos in Decatur, Alabama. The universal stage adapter will connect the rocket’s upgraded in-space propulsion stage, called the exploration upper stage, to NASA’s Orion spacecraft as part of the evolved Block 1B configuration of the SLS rocket. It will also serve as a compartment capable of accommodating large payloads, such as modules or other exploration spacecraft. The SLS Block 1B variant will debut on Artemis IV and will increase SLS’s payload capability to send more than 84,000 pounds to the Moon in a single launch.
Credit: NASA/Sam Lott
#NASA #NASAMarshall #sls #spacelaunchsystem #nasasls #exploration #rocket #artemis
A J-2X engine, right, is being transported to the A-2 Test Stand at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.
Image credit: NASA/SSC
View original image/caption:
www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/j2x/j2x_engine10002_...
More about the J-2X Engine Development:
There's a Flickr photoset about the J-2X egnine development, if you'd like to know more: www.flickr.com/photos/28634332@N05/sets/72157625345364038/
_____________________________________________
These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...
Artemis II NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman and Christina Koch of NASA, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen view the core stage for the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket at the agency’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans on Nov. 16. The three astronauts, along with NASA’s Victor Glover, will launch atop the rocket stage to venture around the Moon on Artemis II, the first crewed flight for Artemis.
The core stage, towering 212 feet, is the backbone of the SLS mega rocket and serves to support the weight of the payload, upper stage, and the crew inside the Orion Spacecraft. It also includes two massive propellant tanks that collectively hold 733,000 gallons of propellant to help power the stage's four RS-25 engines.
The astronauts’ visit to Michoud coincided with the first anniversary of the launch of Artemis I. The uncrewed flight test of SLS and Orion was the first in a series of increasingly complex missions for Artemis as the agency works to return humans to the lunar surface and develop a long-term presence there for discovery and exploration.
Image credits: NASA/Michael DeMocker
#NASA #space #moon #NASAMichoud #NASAMarshall #msfc #sls #spacelaunchsystem #nasasls #rockets #exploration #artemis #rocketengine
Teams lifted the left center segment, bearing NASA’s historic “worm” logo, of the Space Launch System (SLS) solid rocket boosters for the Artemis II mission into High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building.
This is the seventh of 10 motor segments stacked on mobile launcher 1 by the Exploration Ground Systems team at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.
Credit: NASA/Frank Michaux
#NASA #space #moon #NASAKennedy #NASAMarshall #msfc #sls #spacelaunchsystem #nasasls #rockets #exploration #artemis #rocketengine #ExplorationGroundSystems #EGS #ArtemisII
Technicians at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans have installed the first of four RS-25 engines on the core stage of the agency’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket that will help power NASA’s first crewed Artemis mission to the Moon. During Artemis II, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen will launch on SLS and journey around the Moon inside the Orion spacecraft during an approximately 10-day mission in preparation for future lunar missions.
The Sept. 11 engine installation follows the joining of all five major structures that make up the SLS core stage earlier this spring. NASA, lead RS-25 engines contractor Aerojet Rocketdyne, an L3 Harris Technologies company, and Boeing, the core stage lead contractor, will continue integrating the remaining three engines into the stage and installing the propulsion and electrical systems within the structure.
All four RS-25 engines are located at the base of the core stage within the engine section, which protects the engines from the extreme temperatures during launch and has an aerodynamic boat tail fairing to channel airflow. During launch and flight, the four engines will fire nonstop for over eight minutes, consuming propellant from the core stage’s two massive propellant tanks at a rate of 1,500 gallons (5,678 liters) per second.
Each SLS engine has a different serial number. The serial number for the engine installed Sept. 11 in position two on the core stage is E2059. It along with the engine in position one, E2047, previously flew on space shuttle flights. E2047 is the most veteran engine of the entire set flying on Artemis II with 15 shuttle flights, including STS-98, which delivered the Destiny Laboratory Module to the International Space Station in 2001. The engines installed in positions three and four (E2062 and E2063) are new engines that include previously flown hardware.
NASA is working to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon under Artemis. SLS is part of NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration, along with Orion and the Gateway in orbit around the Moon, and commercial human landing systems. SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts, and supplies to the Moon in a single mission.
Image credit: NASA
#NASA #NASAMarshall #sls #spacelaunchsystem #nasasls #exploration #rocket #artemis #MichoudAssemblyFacility #ArtemisII
At 212 feet tall, the core stage for NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) is the backbone and powerhouse of the mega rocket that will power NASA’s Artemis mission to the Moon. Its two massive propellant tanks provide more than 733,000 gallons of propellant to the four RS-25 engines at the base of the rocket stage, producing more than 2 million pounds of thrust for the first eight minutes of flight. NASA and Boeing, the lead SLS core stage contractor, manufacture the core stage which is built at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. Watch this video to learn more about the capability of the SLS rocket and its dynamic core stage.
Image credits: NASA
#NASA #space #moon #NASAMichoud #NASAMarshall #msfc #sls #spacelaunchsystem #nasasls #rockets #exploration #artemis #rocketengine
“Dr. Wernher von Braun, Marshall Space Flight Center's first director, points out details on a Saturn rocket to President Dwight D. Eisenhower. President Eisenhower was at Marshall to participate in the center's dedication ceremony, Sept. 8, 1960.
Two years earlier on July 29, 1958, President Eisenhower signed into law the National Aeronautics and Space Act (Pub. L. 85-568), the United States federal statute that created NASA…”
From/at:
www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1185.html
And/or:
“Dr. von Braun briefs President Eisenhower at the front of the S1 Stage (first Stage) of the Saturn 1 vehicle at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) on September 8, 1960. The President's visit was to dedicate Marshall Space Flight Center as a new NASA field center in honor of General George C. Marshall.”
From/at:
images.nasa.gov/details-6020316
Some funky processing, developing…something…was used on this photograph. The physical condition is very good with the understood yellowing. However, upon close inspection, it looks like the photograph was developed from/of a photograph that had been marked, highlighted, etc., for press purposes of the time. That is, they're incorporated into the photograph. Weird. Also, the obverse is of a soft satin/nearly matte finish, whereas the verso is a uniform mottled semi-gloss.
Finally, I’m considering the 'number' associated with the image online to possibly be a sort of bastardized version of the original.
Regardless of all of the above, it’s an historic ‘space’ image.
A J-2X power pack assembly burns brightly during a hot fire test Nov. 27 at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. Engineers pulled the assembly from the test stand in September to install additional instrumentation in the fuel turbopump. The test, which ran for 278 seconds, verified the newly installed strain gauges designed to measure the turbine structural strain when the turbopump is spinning at high speeds that vary between 25,000 and 30,000 rotations-per-minute. The J-2X engine -- built by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne of Canoga Park, Calif. -- will power the upper stage of NASA's Space Launch System, managed at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. The new heavy-lift rocket system will launch the Orion spacecraft and enable humans to explore new destinations beyond low Earth orbit.
Image credit: NASA/SSC
View original image/caption:
www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/features/cryotank.html
More about the J-2X Engine Development:
There's a Flickr photoset about the J-2X egnine development, if you'd like to know more: www.flickr.com/photos/28634332@N05/sets/72157625345364038/
_____________________________________________
These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...
Local call number: RC08589
Title: XLR-115 hydrogen fueled rocket engine developed by Pratt and Whitney Aircraft
Date: July 1959
General note: In the late 1950s, the U.S. government created a fictitious town named Apix (Air Products Incorportated, Experimental) to build and test rocket engines powered by liquid hydrogen in order to keep pace with the Soviet Union. Highly classified and requiring a large degree of secrecy, the project was given the code name "Suntan." Land near the testing ground was platted for houses to conceal the true nature of the site and Apix was even given a bogus population to add to its cover as a small fertilizer-producing community. By June 1959, the use of liquid hydrogen was determined to be too costly, the project was abandoned, and Apix dismantled.
Physical descrip: 1 photoprint - col. - 10 x 8 in.
Series Title: Reference Collection
Repository: State Library and Archives of Florida, 500 S. Bronough St., Tallahassee, FL 32399-0250 USA. Contact: 850.245.6700. Archives@dos.myflorida.com
Persistent URL: www.floridamemory.com/items/show/31540
MSFC technicians appear to be installing one of the four central H-1 engines at the base of an unidentified Saturn I first stage, possibly SA-4, possibly circa 1962.
I submit 1962 because the leading “2” may be 1962 abbreviated. Weak, I know, but who really cares. If so, maybe SA-4 based on the entries here:
history.nasa.gov/MHR-5/part-3.htm
An excellent photograph, all kinds of detail resolvable.
When NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket roars to life on the launch pad, NASA’s Artemis astronauts inside the Orion spacecraft will feel the power of the rocket’s four RS-25 engines for eight minutes.The four RS-25 engines on SLS are some of the most efficient engines ever built. Two giant propellant tanks on the SLS core stage provide the fuel to power the engines that, together, provide more than 2 million pounds of thrust to help launch NASA’s Artemis missions to the Moon. The RS-25 engines are produced by Aerojet Rocketdyne, an L3Harris Technologies Company. Watch this video to learn more about how these engines have been adapted from the Space Shuttle Program for the SLS rocket’s bold missions into deep space.
Credit: NASA
#NASA #NASAMarshall #sls #spacelaunchsystem #nasasls #exploration #rocket #artemis #ArtemisIII #ICPS #astronauts #RocketScience
The shake, rattle and roar lasted just seven seconds, but the short J-2X test conducted May 16 at NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center in south Mississippi moved the space agency ever closer to a return to deep space. NASA operators tested the next-generation J-2X engine on the A-2 Test Stand at Stennis to collect early data on performance of the engine and test stand with the new nozzle extension and clamshell configuration. The test also provided data on startup and shutdown processes. The J-2X engine is the first new liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen rocket engine developed in 40 years that will be rated to carry humans into space. The May 16 test was part of a second series of firings to collect critical data for continued development of the engine. The J-2X engine is being developed for NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne of Canoga Park, Calif.
Credit: NASA/SSC
View NASA feature:
www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/j2x/CLT-12-053.html
View video:
www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?media_id=...
More about the J-2X Engine Development:
There's a Flickr photoset about the J-2X egnine development, if you'd like to know more: www.flickr.com/photos/28634332@N05/sets/72157625345364038/
_____________________________________________
These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...
“HALF-MILLION HORSEPOWER ENGINE - The new 50,000 lb. thrust liquid rocket engine (XLR-99) built by Thiokol Chemical Corp. in Denville, N.J., is mated to the X-15 at Edwards AFB, California. The engine is capable of producing up to a half-million horsepower, enough to send the space vehicle at least 100 miles high and at speeds up to 4,000 mph. The new engine is the only rocket powerplant that has been proved safe for manned flight, is under pilot control and is fully throttleable. It can also be started, stopped and restarted in flight and monitors its own operation electronically.”
Probably the most advanced rocket engine of the time, installed on THE cutting edge “spaceplane”, pushing the boundaries of speed & altitude, and by virtue of that, the untested threshold between atmospheric & space flight – by humans – and it looks like it’s being worked on, after hours, by some of the guys from the bowling team, at “Crossfield’s Body & Repair Shop”, a block down from the DQ on Main Street. Outstanding, simply outstanding.
The perspective provides an excellent view of the vehicle’s port landing gear, with skid pad. Kinda deceptive, as it looks like it should be the wheels that are visible, which actually belong to some sort of support dolly/jack(?)
See also:
www.thexhunters.com/xpeditions/x-15_aircraft.html
Credit: The X Hunters website
www.boeing.com/news/frontiers/archive/2009/june/i_history...
Credit: Boeing website (I hope they don't charge/fine me for linking to their page.) ;-)
Excellent X-15 reading:
history.nasa.gov/SP-60/ch-3.html
Highway robbery:
www.agefotostock.com/age/en/Stock-Images/Rights-Managed/Z...
Credit: agefotostock website
A McDonnell Douglas Corporation/Max Faget "DC-3" Phase-A orbiter is depicted taxiing on a conventional runway in this 1969 artist's concept. In this variant, the air-breathing engines used for landing appear to be incorporated into the nose of the vehicle. Also, maybe it's the perspective; however, the rear landing gear appears to be a single set, inline with the front gear...that can't be, I wouldn't think, but it even seems to be confirmed by the shadow.
Although obviously a commercial airport, the latticework structure to the right, on the horizon, looks a lot like a launchpad gantry.
See/read also...awesome:
www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/mdc-shuttle-proposal-pha...
Credit: user "Skybolt"/SECRET PROJECTS Forum website
Also:
www.aerospaceprojectsreview.com/blog/?p=1254
www.aerospaceprojectsreview.com/blog/?p=4442
Both above credit: Aerospace Projects Review website
Based on other NASA-sponsored depictions of the time, possibly by Raymond Bruneau? Maybe even Jerry Elmore?
This engine, powered by a mixture of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants, was used on NASA's Saturn IB and V launch vehicles. Each engine weighed 1.78 tonnes and produced 232,250 lb of thrust.
The Saturn V rockets used five J-2 engines in their second stage. Both the Saturn IB and V used a single J-2 on their upper stage. Until the Space Shuttle's main engine, this was America's largest liquid hydrogen/oxygen rocket engine (the Saturn V's main launch engines, Rocketdyne's F-1, were powered by kerosene/oxygen and remain the most powerful single-nozzle liquid-fuelled rocket engines ever flown).
The J-2 was approved for development in June 1960 and first flew in February 1966. An unusual feature for the time was that the engine was designed to be restartable. The Saturn V's single third-stage J-2 finished the low Earth orbital insertion of the Apollo spacecraft with a two-minute burn. Subsequently, it was used for a 6.5 minute burn to accelerate the spacecraft on a course for the Moon.
This example, which has a diameter of 6.6 feet, is seen on display in rather low light conditions in the Exploring Space Hall of the Science Museum in South Kensington, London.
“Here’s a scale mock-up of America’s most powerful rocket engine which is scheduled for operation in about four years. Under development since December 1958, the single-chambered engine is designed to produce 1,500,000 pounds of thrust. Used in clusters, these engines could provide from six to nine million pounds of thrust for a space vehicle.”
See also. Always fantastic:
heroicrelics.org/info/f-1/f-1-thrust-chamber.html
heroicrelics.org/info/f-1/f-1-with-callouts.html
Both credit: Mike Jetzer/heroicrelics.org
Engineers and technicians at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, recently installed a key component called the frangible joint assembly onto the adapter that connects the core stage to the upper part of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket. The cone-shaped stage adapter, called the launch vehicle stage adapter, will be part of the SLS mega rocket that will power NASA’s Artemis III mission to the Moon. The frangible joint sits atop the adapter and operates as a separation mechanism. The frangible joint is designed to break apart upon command, allowing the upper part of the rocket, NASA’s Orion spacecraft, and the crew inside Orion to quickly separate from the SLS core stage and adapter. Frangible joint assemblies are widely used across the space industry in a variety of crewed and uncrewed spacecraft to efficiently separate fairings or stages during launch, during ascent, in orbit and during payload deployment. The stage adapter used for Artemis III is set to be the last of its kind as SLS evolves into a larger and more powerful configuration for future Artemis missions, beginning with Artemis IV. The adapter is fully assembled at Marshall by NASA and lead contractor Teledyne Brown, which is also based in Huntsville.
SLS is part of NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration, along with Orion and the Gateway in orbit around the Moon, and commercial human landing systems. SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts, and supplies to the Moon in a single launch.
Image credits: NASA/Sam Lott
#NASA #NASAMarshall #sls #spacelaunchsystem #nasasls #exploration #rocket #artemis
A key piece of hardware for NASA's SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and the agency's Artemis III mission is on its way to the Space Coast. The journey for the ICPS (interim cryogenic propulsion stage) began in Decatur, Alabama, where crews with United Launch Alliance first boxed it for shipment July 29 then loaded it onto ULA's "RocketShip" barge July 31. The barge will ferry the SLS flight hardware down the Mississippi River, into the Gulf of Mexico, then around the Florida peninsula to Cape Canaveral. Once it arrives at ULA's facility in Florida near NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the ICPS will undergo final testing and checkouts ahead of the crewed Artemis III mission. The ICPS is the in-space propulsion stage of the SLS rocket, giving NASA's Orion spacecraft and Artemis astronauts inside it the big push they need to journey all the way to the Moon for a lunar landing. The ICPS for Artemis III is the last of its kind as missions beginning with Artemis IV will use the SLS B1B configuration that includes the more powerful Exploration Upper Stage.
Watch this video to learn more about the preparations for its waterway journey!
Image credit: NASA/Brandon Hancock
#NASA #NASAMarshall #sls #spacelaunchsystem #nasasls #exploration #rocket #artemis #ArtemisIII #ICPS #astronauts #RocketScience #ICPS #Moon
Engineers from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center recently built and tested an additively manufactured – or 3D printed – rocket engine nozzle made of aluminum, making it lighter than conventional nozzles and setting the course for deep space flights that can carry more payloads. Meet NASA’s latest development under the Reactive Additive Manufacturing for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, or RAMFIRE, project.
In this image, the RAMFIRE nozzles complete hot fire testing at Marshall’s East test area using liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen (orange/clear plume), as well as liquid oxygen and liquid methane (blue plume) fuel configurations. As hot combustion gasses approach 6000 degrees Fahrenheit, icicles are forming on the outside of the engine nozzle.
Credit: NASA
#NASA #NASA #NASAMarshall #RocketEngine #RAMFIRE #additivemanufacturing
I recently came up short bidding on this item. !&*?@$%!
However, thanks to the auction house, “New England Auctions”/Fred Giampietro, a well-photographed, high-resolution image was provided/posted in the auction…with a link to download it…BRAVO! That, and it being by the hand of Aerojet-General’s George Mathis made it a no-brainer for me to add it to “the record”, as it were. I find Mr. Mathis’ style to be distinctive, unique & striking. And, in this case, the subject matter being somewhat of a unicorn…IMHO.
First, that’s a Block II Saturn I on the launch pedestal, recognizable by its eight stubby fins. SA-5 being its inaugural flight btw. And, the pièce de résistance; that’s a NERVA upper stage being hoisted for mating to the first stage! Have you ever seen that!?! I haven’t!
I really wanted it. Drat it!
auctions.neauction.com/online-auctions/new-haven-auctions...
Credit: NEW ENGLAND AUCTIONS/FRED GIAMPIETRO website
Some background:
“The NERVA (Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Applications) program was initiated in 1961. This effort, under the direction of the Space Nuclear Propulsion Office of NASA and the AEC, is being performed by the Aerojet-General Corporation as the prime contractor and Westinghouse Electric Corporation as the principal subcontractor with responsibility for the development of the nuclear subsystem, which includes the reactor, shielding, and reactor controls.”
Above is an extract from/at:
www1.grc.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/NERVA-Nuclear-Rocket...
And, of course, a plethora of information at:
Some excellent diagrams confirming my identification & estimation of year:
Both above credit: “The Unwanted Blog” blog
www.aerospaceprojectsreview.com/blog/?s=NERVA&searchs...
Credit: Aerospace Projects Review website
Finally, hopefully correctly identified. If so, note the lack of fins, so this is a Block I Saturn I, predating that in the Mathis painting:
airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/model-rocket-saturn...
Credit: NASM/Smithsonian website
I can’t help but wonder if the winning bidder actually had a clue as to the uniqueness of what’s depicted here. And not just disposable income.
#447
In der gesprengten V2 Raketen Triebwerksanlage.
In the burst open V2 Rocketengine facility.
Urbextour with JoniB, Bunkersachse, Marko Bunker and Bunkerpaule.
“This is a Boeing artist’s impression of how the Dyna-Soar manned space glider will look as the second stage of its modified Titan intercontinental ballistic missile booster falls away, leaving the glider in piloted, near orbital flight. With the ability to maneuver his craft in the earth’s atmosphere, the Dyna-Soar pilot will be able to select any Air Force base as his landing site. The Boeing Company, under supervision of the Air Force, is prime contractor for the system and the glider. The Martin Company is prime contractor for the Titan booster.”
In this depiction, the X-20 appears to be thrusting into orbit under the power of its still attached transtage.
A wonderful depiction by Boeing artist Fred Takasumi.
Thought provoking reading:
www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/what-might-have-been-...
Credit: Defense Media Network website
See also:
www.boeing.com/history/products/x-20-dyna-soar.page
Credit: Boeing website
crgis.ndc.nasa.gov/historic/X-20_Dyna-Soar
And, as always, excellent reading at:
www.drewexmachina.com/2016/04/10/the-future-that-never-ca...
Credit: Drew Ex Machina website/Andrew LePage
NASA has achieved a new benchmark in developing an innovative propulsion system called the Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine (RDRE). Engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, successfully tested a novel, 3D-printed RDRE for 251 seconds (or longer than four minutes), producing more than 5,800 pounds of thrust.
That kind of sustained burn emulates typical requirements for a lander touchdown or a deep-space burn that could set a spacecraft on course from the Moon to Mars, said Marshall combustion devices engineer Thomas Teasley, who leads the RDRE test effort at the center.
RDRE’s first hot fire test was performed at Marshall in the summer of 2022 in partnership with In Space LLC and Purdue University, both of Lafayette, Indiana. That test produced more than 4,000 pounds of thrust for nearly a minute. The primary goal of the latest test, Teasley noted, is to better understand how to scale the combustor to different thrust classes, supporting engine systems of all types and maximizing the variety of missions it could serve, from landers to upper stage engines to supersonic retropropulsion, a deceleration technique that could land larger payloads – or even humans – on the surface of Mars.
Image credit: NASA
#NASA #NASAMarshall #sls #spacelaunchsystem #RDRE #RotatingDetonationRocketEngine #rocket #rocketengine
The J-2X powerpack assembly was fired up one last time on Dec. 13 at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, finishing a year of testing on an important component of America's next heavy-lift rocket. The powerpack assembly burned millions of pounds of propellants during a series of 13 tests during 2012 totaling more than an hour and a half. NASA engineers will remove the assembly from the test stand to focus on tests of the fully integrated engine. Installation on a test stand at Stennis will begin in 2013. The powerpack is a system of components on top of the engine that feeds propellants to the bell nozzle of the engine to produce thrust. The J-2X engine, designed and built by NASA and industry partner Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne of Canoga Park, Calif., will power the upper stage of the 143-ton (130-metric-ton) Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. The SLS will launch NASA's Orion spacecraft and other payloads from the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, providing an entirely new capability for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit. The program is managed at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.
Image credit: NASA/SSC
View original image/caption:
www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/j2x/ppt_dec13_2.html
More about the J-2X Engine Development:
There's a Flickr photoset about the J-2X egnine development, if you'd like to know more: www.flickr.com/photos/28634332@N05/sets/72157625345364038/
_____________________________________________
These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...
“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
Striking depiction by George Mathis, Aerojet General Corporation’s artist, of the Gemini-Titan II second stage ignition ‘corona’.
Per a caption/description associated with another depiction of this phenomena, from the opposing perspective, likely also rendered by Mr. Mathis, Gemini 6 Astronaut Tom Stafford is cited as having witnessed it.
Possibly photographically recorded as well? If so, by onboard cameras? Long-range tracking cameras? I must admit, I know/have seen/have sought out very little Gemini-Titan ascent/staging footage.
8.5” x 11”.
A new record was set on April 4 for J-2X engine test firings when the engine was fired for 570 seconds on the A-2 test stand at Stennis. With the completion of the test series on this stand, the engine will now be moved to the A-1 test stand where it will undergo gimbaling tests to ensure it can pivot safely, much like it will do as the steering propulsion for the second stage of NASA's Space Launch System.
Image credit: NASA/SSC
View original image/caption:
www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/j2x/hotfire1.html
More about the J-2X Engine Development:
There's a Flickr photoset about the J-2X egnine development, if you'd like to know more: www.flickr.com/photos/28634332@N05/sets/72157625345364038/
_____________________________________________
These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...
"A mock-up of the NASA F-1 engine, which develops 1.5 million pounds thrust. Five of these engines will power the first stage of the Saturn V moon rocket."
Note the missing turbine exhaust manifold, commonly seen to girdle the 'nozzle' of the engine, at the thrust chamber and nozzle extension interface.
Excellent F-1 reading:
www.thespacereview.com/article/3724/1
Credit: The Space Review website
Engineers install J-2X engine E10002 in the A-1 test stand at NASA's Stennis Space Center. The installation is in preparation for a new series of tests, where the engine will be gimbaled, or pivoted, during test firings.
Gimbal tests are an important part of the design process. When this upper stage engine is used in space, it will need to be able to move freely to steer NASA's Space Launch System, or SLS -- an advanced heavy-lift launch vehicle that will provide an entirely new national capability for human exploration beyond Earth’s orbit. This is the first full engine to be installed in the A-1 test stand in almost a decade and the first time gimbal tests will be performed since testing on the space shuttle main engines.
A series of tests was completed on the E10002 engine in the A-2 test stand prior to its installation on the A-1 test stand at Stennis. Once this series of tests is complete, the engine will be removed, and preparations will be made to begin testing the RS-25 engine on the A-1 stand in 2014. RS-25 engines from the Space shuttle inventory will power the core stage of SLS, while the J-2X engine will power the upper stage of the evolved launch vehicle. The SLS Program is managed at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. The J-2X engine is being built by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne.
Image credit: NASA/SSC
View original image/caption:
www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/j2x/j2x_full_1.html
More about the J-2X Engine Development:
There's a Flickr photoset about the J-2X egnine development, if you'd like to know more: www.flickr.com/photos/28634332@N05/sets/72157625345364038/
_____________________________________________
These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...
J-2X rocket engine testing continues at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi with the second in a series of tests conducted on Feb. 27. The 550-second, full-duration test provided critical information on the combustion stability of the engine and on its performance with the nozzle extension. Engineers also continued evaluation of the test stand's clamshell configuration, as well as calibration of the facility's cryogenic flow meters. J-2X engine testing allows engineers to collect additional data on the next-generation engine that will provide upper-stage power for the new Space Launch System (SLS) under development. NASA's new SLS rocket is being developed to enable missions farther into space than ever. The SLS Program is managed by the NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. Following this series of tests on the A-2 Test Stand, Engine No. 10002 will be transferred to the site's A-1 stand to undergo gimbal (or pivot) tests for the first time. The J-2X engine is the first human-rated liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen engine developed in the United States in four decades. It is being designed and built for NASA by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne of Canoga Park, Calif.
Image credit: NASA/SSC
View original image/caption:
www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/j2x/j2x_feb27_1.html
More about the J-2X Engine Development:
There's a Flickr photoset about the J-2X egnine development, if you'd like to know more: www.flickr.com/photos/28634332@N05/sets/72157625345364038/
_____________________________________________
These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...
Engineers install J-2X engine E10002 in the A-1 test stand at NASA's Stennis Space Center. The installation is in preparation for a new series of tests, where the engine will be gimbaled, or pivoted, during test firings.
Gimbal tests are an important part of the design process. When this upper stage engine is used in space, it will need to be able to move freely to steer NASA's Space Launch System, or SLS -- an advanced heavy-lift launch vehicle that will provide an entirely new national capability for human exploration beyond Earth’s orbit. This is the first full engine to be installed in the A-1 test stand in almost a decade and the first time gimbal tests will be performed since testing on the space shuttle main engines.
A series of tests was completed on the E10002 engine in the A-2 test stand prior to its installation on the A-1 test stand at Stennis. Once this series of tests is complete, the engine will be removed, and preparations will be made to begin testing the RS-25 engine on the A-1 stand in 2014. RS-25 engines from the Space shuttle inventory will power the core stage of SLS, while the J-2X engine will power the upper stage of the evolved launch vehicle. The SLS Program is managed at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. The J-2X engine is being built by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne.
Image credit: NASA/SSC
View original image/caption:
www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/j2x/j2x_full_1.html
More about the J-2X Engine Development:
There's a Flickr photoset about the J-2X egnine development, if you'd like to know more: www.flickr.com/photos/28634332@N05/sets/72157625345364038/
_____________________________________________
These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...