Posted on 02/25/2018 9:31:24 PM PST by BenLurkin
How can a rocket engine achieve more than a 100-percent thrust? Well, RS-25 engines were first designed more than 40 years ago, for use with NASA's space shuttle, and the power level they were capable of achieving at the time is the margin known as 100-percent thrust, according to NASA. RS-25 engines are former space shuttle engines that have been modified to perform more powerfully than ever before.
"Increased engine performance is crucial for enabling SLS missions to deep space as the rocket evolves to be larger and carry astronauts and heavy cargo on a single flight," NASA officials said in the statement.
When the space vehicle is assembled and ready for launch, four of these formidable engines will create a combined 2 million lbs. of thrust, according to the statement. And there's more: A pair of boosters on the SLS will work with the RS-25 engines to supply the rocket with a whopping 8 million lbs. of total thrust.
...
In addition to RS-25 ignition, the "brain" of the engine underwent testing. The new flight controller is one of the latest modifications to the engine design and will help provide precision control as it communicates with the rest of the SLS rocket. And in an ongoing effort to make SLS more affordable, operators also tested out a shock-absorbing component on Feb. 21, manufactured through 3D printing.
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
I’m happy with my Dodge Challenger engine :)
So, how did they manage “deep space” for the moon landings? Evidently they didn’t.
That article really puts the weight of an adult African elephant into perspective.
All framed by the Saturn 5 to show how it used to be done.
So, how did they manage “deep space” for the moon landings? Evidently they didn’t.
SLS
Billion$ over budget.
Years overdue.
NASA as a bureaucracy at it’s “best”.
The launch platform cost over a billion $ and will be used - once.
NASA at its most wasteful.
Ridiculous.
Correct. There is no such thing as engine thrust in an absolute vacuum.
Please elaborate? Mass is mass and it’s inertia must be overcome for it to be moved along, regardless of atmosphere, no?
Screw Stennis. They stopped us from shooting in the buffer zone a few years back and it was an awesome place to shoot. People had been shooting there for 30 plus years!
Yes, they did. Besides, the moon is not “deep space”. Pluto is deep space.
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction kind of thing...the combustion takes place in a chamber, nozzle directs the thrust and the spacecraft goes the other way.
No air needed. It can take place in an absolute vacuum.
Do you think a rifle, fired in an "absolute vacuum" (which space isn't) would recoil? Why not?
If your answer is "yes," a rocket works by precisely the same physical phenomenon.
“Correct. There is no such thing as engine thrust in an absolute vacuum”
I assume that is in jest.
How would you explain our spacecraft and planetary probes reaching the moon (and back) and other planets in our solar system-- pure inertia?
You’re correct. My son the aerospace engineer and I were discussing this yesterday
I watched that a day or so ago, or started to. Finished a 12 oz beverage. Still roaring along. Switched to a different vid. :^)
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