Posted on 07/21/2006 5:48:15 PM PDT by KevinDavis
CANOGA PARK, Calif., July 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- A new rocket propulsion technology demonstration has marked an important milestone, achieving "mainstage" or constant full-power performance for the first time. Called the Integrated Powerhead Demonstration, or IPD, this development project combines the very latest in rocket engine propulsion technologies. To date, the IPD has conducted 21 of 26 tests and accumulated 300 seconds of operation, up to 100 percent power level at NASA's Stennis Space Center (SSC) in Mississippi.
The IPD is being developed through the combined efforts of Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, a business unit of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) , Aerojet, and NASA's Stennis Space Center, under program direction by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and technical direction of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). Its technologies are directed at achieving the goals of the Integrated High Payoff Rocket Propulsion Technology (IHPRPT) program and NASA's Exploration Technology Development Program (ETDP).
Capable of generating about 250,000 pounds of thrust, the demonstrator uses liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen in a first U.S. demonstration of a full-flow, staged-combustion (FFSC) cycle. The FFSC cycle uses a fuel-rich pre-burner to drive the fuel turbopump, and an oxidizer-rich pre-burner to drive the oxygen turbopump. Because all of the propellants in the pre-burners are burned, more mass flow is available to drive the turbines than in a conventional staged combustion cycle.
(Excerpt) Read more at sev.prnewswire.com ...
Very cool.
Oh-kay. An image, from the dreaded source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staged_combustion_cycle_(rocket)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Full_flow_staged_rocket_cycle.svg
Integrated Powerhead Development:
https://rockettest.ssc.nasa.gov/ssc_ptd/projects_ipd.htm
New Rocket Engine Combustion Cycle:
http://www.californiaspaceauthority.org/html/press-releasesandletters/pr060718-1.html
one more:
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/rocketscience-05y.html
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