Russian space chief proposes nuclear spaceship

Russia's space agency chief is proposing to build a new spaceship with a nuclear engine.

Anatoly Perminov told a government meeting Wednesday that the preliminary design could be ready by 2012. He said it will then take nine more years and 17 billion rubles (about $600 million or 400 million euros) to build the ship.

Read the story HERE.

LO2 & LCH4 Storage on the Lunar Surface

Barsi, Moder & Kassemi, NASA Glenn, Cleveland, OH
AIAA Joint Propulsion Conference

Currently NASA is developing technologies to enable human exploration of the lunar surface for durations of up to 210 days. While trade studies are still underway, a cryogenic ascent stage using liquid oxygen (LO2) and liquid methane (LCH4) is being considered for the Altair lunar lander. For a representative Altair cryogenic ascent stage, we present a detailed storage analysis of the LO2 and LCH4 propellant tanks on the lunar surface for durations of up to 210 days. Both the LO2 and LCH4 propellant tanks are assumed to be pressurized with gaseous helium at launch. A two-phase lumped-vapor computational fluid dynamics model has been developed to account for the presense of a non-condensable gas in the ullage. The CFD model is used to simulate the initial pressure response of the propellant tanks while they are subjected to representative heat leak rates on the lunar surface. Once a near stationary state is achieved within the liquid phase, a multi-zone model is used to extrapolate the solution farther in time. For fixed propellant mass and tank size, the long-term pressure response for different helium mass fractions in both the LO2 and LCH4 tanks is examined.

Download the (pdf) Study HERE.

LO2 & LCH4 Ascent Main Engine Technology

Joel W. Robinson & David D. Stephenson
NASA Marshall SFC - Huntsville

NASA has identified Luquid Oxygen (LO2/Liquid Methane (LCH4) as a potential propellant combination for future space vehicles based upon the Exploration Systems Architecture Study (ESAS). The technology is estimated to have higher performance and lower overall systems mass compared to existing hypergolic propulsion systems. The current application considering this technology is the lunar ascent main engine (AME).

AME is anticipated to be an expendable, pressure-fed engine to provide ascent from the Moon at the completion of a 210 day lunar stay. The engine is expected to produce 5,500 lbf (24,465 N) thrust with variable inlet temperatures due to the cryogenic nature of the fuel and oxidzer. The primary technology risks include establishing reliable and robust ignition in vacuum conditions, maximizing specific impulse, developing rapid start capability for the descent abort, providing the capability for two starts and producing a total engine burn time over 500 seconds.

This paper highlights the efforts at Marshall in addressing risk reduction activities for this technology.

Download the paper (pdf) HERE.

ARCA Live-Fire testing continues

Hat Tip to NEW SPACE:

Romania's Aeronautics and Cosmonautics Romanian Association (ARCA) recently conducted a propellant firing test for its Stabilo suborbital space vehicle.

In addition, the company also tested the lunar injection engine for its European Lunar Explorer - a vehicle that the company hopes will be able to soft land on the Moon's surface.

Read more HERE.

Electric Sail Invention Approaches Implementation

Helsinki - FMI: Helsinki - The electric solar wind sail developed at the Finnish Meteorological Institute has moved in a rapidly pace from invention towards implementation. Electric sail propulsion might have a large impact on space research and moving in space more generally. The electric solar wind sail developed by Dr. Pekka Janhunen at the Finnish Meteorological Institute might revolutionise moving around in deep space.

The electric sail is a Finnish invention which uses the solar wind as its thrust source and therefore needs no fuel or propellant. The solar wind is a continuous plasma stream emanating from the Sun. Changes in the properties of the solar wind cause auroral brightening and magnetic storms, among other things.

Progress without problems

Over its two-year history, the electric sail has developed rapidly from invention towards implementation and has aroused much international interest. The main parts of the device are long metallic tethers and a solar-powered electron gun which keeps the tethers positively charged.

The solar wind exerts a small but continuous thrust on the tethers and the spacecraft. The electric sail and its applications have been developed mainly at the Finnish Meteorological Institute, but component work is carried out at the University of Helsinki and in Germany, Sweden, Russia and Italy.

"We haven't encountered major problems in any of the technical fields thus far. This has already enabled us to already start planning the first test mission", says Dr. Pekka Janhunen. An important subgoal was reached when the Electronics Research Laboratory of the University of Helsinki managed to develop a method for constructing a multiline micrometeoroid-resistant tether out of very thin metal wires using ultrasonic welding.

The newly developed technique allows the bonding together of thin metal wires in any geometry; thus, the method might also have spinoff applications outside the electric sail.

Potential important applications of the electric sail

If and when realised, the electric sail could enable faster and cheaper Solar System science and exploration. It might also enable an economic utilisation of asteroid resources for, e.g. producing rocket fuel in orbit.

"The electric sail might cheapen all space activities and thereby for example help making large solar power satellites a viable option for clean electricity production. Solar power satellites orbiting in the permanent sunshine of space could transmit electric power to Earth by microwaves without interruptions. Continuous power would be a major benefit compared to e.g. ground-based solar power where storing the energy over night, cloudy weather and winter are tricky issues especially here in the far North", says Dr. Pekka Janhunen.

The electric sail was invented as a byproduct of basic research done at the Finnish Meteorological Institute of the interaction of the solar wind with planets and their atmospheres. Work of the electric sail in Finland is currently funded by the Academy of Finland and private foundations.

More information:
Dr. Pekka Janhunen, Academy Research Fellow, +358 9 1929 4635,
pekka.janhunen@fmi.fi

Read more about electronic sail

The first international electric sail meeting will be arranged at ESA ESTEC in Noordwijk, The Netherlands on May 19, 2008.
More information about ESTEC-meeting 19.5.2008

How Rocket Engines Can Be Destroyed By Mysterious Sound Waves

There’s a strange wave phenomenon that’s plagued rocket scientists for years, a lurking threat with the power to destroy an engine at almost any time. For decades, scientists have had a limited understanding of how or why it happens because they could not replicate or investigate the problem under controlled laboratory conditions.

Scientists generally believe that these powerful and unstable sound waves, created by energy supplied by the combustion process, were the cause of rocket failures in several U.S. and Russian rockets. Scientists have also observed these mysterious oscillations in other propulsion and power-generating systems such as missiles and gas turbines.

Now, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a liquid rocket engine simulator and imaging techniques that can help demystify the cause of these explosive sound waves and bring scientists a little closer to being able to understand and prevent them. The Georgia Tech research team was able to clearly demonstrate that the phenomenon manifests itself in the form of spinning acoustic waves that gain destructive power as they rotate around the rocket’s combustion chamber.

“This is a very troublesome phenomenon in rockets,” said Ben Zinn, the David S. Lewis Jr. Chair and Regents’ Professor in the Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering at Georgia Tech. “These spinning acoustic oscillations destroy engines without anyone fully understanding how these waves are formed. Visualizing this phenomenon brings us a step closer to understanding it.”

Read the article in SCIENCE HERE.

Georgia Institute of Technology (2008, April 10). How Rocket Engines Can Be Destroyed By Mysterious Sound Waves. ScienceDaily. Retrieved April 15, 2008, from HERE.

Meanwhile, GenCorp's Aerojet gets contract from NASA Glenn to continue beyond RCS with low-weight methane

SACRAMENTO Aerojet, a GenCorp Inc. company, announced a contract award today from NASA Glenn Research Center for the development of a 5,500lb thrust Liquid Oxygen-Liquid Methane engine.

NASA's Altair lunar lander program and the NASA Exploration Technology Development Program have partnered to create the NASA Propulsion Cryogenic Advanced Development project to support methane technology maturation and advancement. The project is managed jointly by NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, NASA Marshall in Huntsville and Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The time sensitive engine development effort will provide the NASA Altair lunar lander program with validated methane engine performance and technology risk reduction data prior to the Altair propulsion System Requirements and Preliminary Design Reviews. The objective of the new contract is to design, fabricate and begin testing an Aerojet 5,500lb thrust methane engine by January 2009 to support the data needs of the Altair SRR.

The NASA Exploration Systems Architecture Studies along with other NASA study activities, has identified Liquid Oxygen-Liquid Methane propulsion systems as a promising option for future space vehicles. These systems create the potential for substantial savings in overall systems mass when compared to conventional hypergolic systems.

"Aerojet is well positioned to accomplish this rapid development effort because of our research and development investments in Liquid Oxygen-Liquid Methane and other green propellant technologies," said Julie Van Kleeck, Aerojet's vice president of Space Systems.

The new contract will extend Aerojet's Liquid Oxygen-Liquid Methane development expertise beyond the 100lbf RCS contract already delivered to White Sands Test Facility for altitude testing.

The 100lbf engine program, which has been highly successful in RCS development, can operate on Liquid Oxygen-Liquid Methane rather than hydrazine, and it has demonstrated very fast pulsing capability in a flight prototype. This technology development activity will provide NASA with timely methane ascent main engine technology data to support its system design studies and decision making.

SOURCE Aerojet - 04/10/200

CECE by Pratt & Whitney: NASA awards contract extension

"Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is pleased that NASA has continued development of the CECE," said Graham Webb, general manager, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne Florida & Mississippi operations. "We look forward to competing to power the first lunar landing of the 21st Century."

In a flurry of contract awards, with more to follow, NASA granted the contract extension on CECE, or Common Extensible Cryogenic Engine, as expected Thursday.

The CECE development contract, originally awarded in June 2005, extends now through March 2009.

During this next phase of the program, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne will design, manufacture and test a new, enhanced injector to support stable combustion at very low thrust.

"In tests to date, the CECE has made significant progress to meet the mission," said Victor Giuliano, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne CECE program manager. "Test highlights included the CECE demonstrating repeated throttling operability from 100 percent of its 13,800 pounds of thrust down to as low as 9.5 percent of full power. Additionally, the engine has demonstrated throttle acceleration and deceleration transient capabilities. The next phase of testing will focus on combustion stability at the lower thrust range."

A throttling range from full power down to 10-25 percent is believed to be sufficient for human-rated spacecraft landing on the moon. Deep throttling, or a wide variation of thrust, enables a vehicle to maintain adequate thrust during in-space travel, yet have a controlled descent at its final destination. Fast-reaction throttling transients will be necessary to smoothly descend to the lunar surface.

  Bryan Kidder
 Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne
 818 586-2213
 bryan.kidder@pwr.utc.com

 Nancy Colaguori
 Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne
 561 796-2219
 nancy.colaguori@pw.utc.com 
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne