Space Shuttle main engine progress through the first flight

Abstract

International/Rocketdyne D i v i s i o n Canoga P a r k , C a l i f o r n i a ABSTRACT ____ The Space S h u t t l e Main Engine, the world's most advanced l i q u i d propellant rocket engine, has progressed through t h e f i r s t f l i g h t of t h e space s h u t t l e Columbia. During t h e p a s t year, several problems were resolved and design modifications were incorporated i n t o t h e Columbia engines. The f i n a l two of four t e s t s e r i e s were completed which c e r t i f i e d the engines for operation a t nomi n a l mission p r o f i l e s a t rated power and 102 percent rated power. Additional t e s t s e r i e s were conducted t o demonstrate t h e engines c a p a b i l i t y of l i m i t e d operation a t 109 percent rated power i n t h e event o f an abort. Operation of the t o t a l propulsion system idas demonstrated w i t h t h e completion of f l i g h t s i m Z a t i o n t e s t s using the three-engine c l u s t e r Main Propulsion T e s t A r t i c l e . A short duration P l i g h t Readiness F i r i n g was conducted on t h e launch pad p r i o r t o the f i r s t f l i g h t of t h e Columbia. n i f i c a n t events and operation of t h e engines during the f i r s t f l i g h t are discussed.These s i g -

Performance Analysis on the Small-Scale Reusable Launch Vehicle

“…Since the former Soviet Union cosmonaut Gagarin [1] entered space for the first time, after more than 60 years of continuous exploration and development in the field of manned space flight, so far, there are two types of manned spacecraft in the world that can carry out missions between space and earth: the space shuttle of the United States [2] and manned spacecraft represented by Soyuz of Russia and Shenzhou of China [3,4]. However, except for a small part of the space shuttle, other manned spacecraft are not reusable, and the maintenance cost of space shuttles is very expensive, so the cost of space travel has been exceedingly high, which greatly restricts the pace of human exploration of outer space.…”