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NASA NTRS1988

Rocket- and aircraft-borne trace gas measurements in the winter polar stratosphere

In January and February 1987 stratospheric rocket- and aircraft-borne trace gas measurements were done in the North Polar region using ACIMS (Active Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometry) and PACIMS (PAssive Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometry) instruments. The rocket was launched at ESRANGE (European Sounding Rocket Launching Range) (68 N, 21 E, Northern Sweden) and the twin-jet research aircraft operated by the DFVLR (Deutsche Forschungs- und Versuchs-anstalt fuer Luft- und Raumfahrt), and equipped with a mass spectrometer laboratory was stationed at Kiruna airport. Various stratospheric trace gases were measured including nitric acid, sulfuric acid, non-methane hydrocarbons (acetone, hydrogen cyanide, acetonitrile, methanol etc.), and ambient cluster ions. The experimental data is presented and possible implications for polar stratospheric ozone discussed.

Arnold, F.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Fiberoptics for liquid propellant rocket engine environments

Interest is increasing in the use of fiberoptics on liquid-fueled rocket engines in recognition of their immunity to lightning and EMI, light weight, high-frequency response, and the possibility offered by optical technologies to measure additional important engine parameters for which present measurement methods are impractical. This paper discusses the requirements to be placed on fiberoptics applied to liquid-fueled rocket engines; identifies manufacturers of fibers that appear to have promise for the harsh rocket engine applications; and summarizes information on the characteristics of these fibers obtained from the manufacturers, program testing, and the general literature.

Delcher, R.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Development of the Explorer solid rocket motor

The successful launching of Explorer I on an accelerated schedule was due in part to the extensive design and developmental testing effort accomplished in support of the U.S. Army's Sergeant missile system. The 1/5-scale solid rocket motor used in the missile development in conjunction with a modified Redstone rocket became the basis for the Jupiter-C launch vehicle, which launched the first U.S. satellite. A description of the solid rocket motor and its development for use as part of the upper stages of the Jupiter-C is presented.

Sola, F. L.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Array Of Rockets For Multicrewmember Evacuation

Emergency egress system undergoing development for aircraft and aerospace vehicles uses fixed array of tractor rockets to eject crewmembers. Crewmembers hook up to tractor rockets and fire them unaided. Positioned as unit in ready-to-use orientation during flight operations. On ground, swung out of way. Rocket array also mounts under exit hatch, serving as egress ramp.

Allen, Margaret A.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Heat transfer to throat tubes in a square-chambered rocket engine at the NASA Lewis Research Center

A gaseous H2/O2 rocket engine was constructed at the NASA-Lewis to provide a high heat flux source representative of the heat flux to the blades in the high pressure fuel turbopump (HPFTP) during startup of the space shuttle main engines. The high heat flux source was required to evaluate the durability of thermal barrier coatings being investigated for use on these blades. The heat transfer, and specifically, the heat flux to tubes located at the throat of the test rocket engine was evaluated and compared to the heat flux to the blades in the HPFTP during engine startup. Gas temperatures, pressures and heat transfer coefficients in the test rocket engine were measured. Near surface metal temperatures below thin thermal barrier coatings were also measured at various angular orientations around the throat tube to indicate the angular dependence of the heat transfer coefficients. A finite difference model for a throat tube was developed and a thermal analysis was performed using the measured gas temperatures and the derived heat transfer coefficients to predict metal temperatures in the tube. Near surface metal temperatures of an uncoated throat tube were measured at the stagnation point and showed good agreement with temperatures predicted by the thermal model. The maximum heat flux to the throat tube was calculated and compared to that predicted for the leading edge of an HPFTP blade. It is shown that the heat flux to an uncooled throat tube is slightly greater than the heat flux to an HPFTP blade during engine startup.

Nesbitt, James A.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Rocket studies of the lower ionosphere

The earth's ionosphere in the altitude range of 50 to 200 km was investigated by rocket-borne sensors, supplemented by ground-based measurement. The rocket payloads included mass spectrometers, energetic particle detectors, Langmuir probes and radio propagation experiments. Where possible, rocket flights were included in studies of specific phenomena, and the availability of data from other experiments greatly increased the significance of the results. The principal ionospheric phenomena studied were: winter anomaly in radiowave absorption, ozone and molecular oxygen densities, mid-latitude sporadic-E layers, energetic particle precipitation at middle and low latitudes, ionospheric instabilities and turbulence, and solar eclipse effects in the D and E regions. This document lists personnel who worked on the project, and provides a bibliography of resultant publications.

Bowhill, Sidney A.↗

NASA NTRS1989

The liquid rocket booster and its potential for the STS

Results of the liquid rocket booster study initiated by NASA to define an alternative to solid rocket boosters, are presented. The prime study contractors, Martin Marietta Corporation and General Dynamics, have identified liquid rocket booster configurations that can increase shuttle performance to 70 klb. These boosters will provide improved reliability, hold down, verification prior to vehicle release, engine-out and abort capabilities. Phasing of these boosters into Space Transportation System (STS) operations without adversely affecting flight rate is described.

Space Shuttle↗

NASA NTRS1989

Dual-fuel, dual-mode rocket engine

The invention relates to a dual fuel, dual mode rocket engine designed to improve the performance of earth-to-orbit vehicles. For any vehicle that operates from the earth's surface to earth orbit, it is advantageous to use two different fuels during its ascent. A high density impulse fuel, such as kerosene, is most efficient during the first half of the trajectory. A high specific impulse fuel, such as hydrogen, is most efficient during the second half of the trajectory. The invention allows both fuels to be used with a single rocket engine. It does so by adding a minimum number of state-of-the-art components to baseline single made rocket engines, and is therefore relatively easy to develop for near term applications. The novelty of this invention resides in the mixing of fuels before exhaust nozzle cooling. This allows all of the engine fuel to cool the exhaust nozzle, and allows the ratio of fuels used throughout the flight depend solely on performance requirements, not cooling requirements.

Martin, James A.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Combustor design and analysis using the Rocket Combustor Interactive Design (ROCCID) methodology

The ROCket Combustor Interactive Design (ROCCID) Methodology is a newly developed, interactive computer code for the design and analysis of a liquid propellant rocket combustion chamber. The application of ROCCID to design a liquid rocket combustion chamber is illustrated. Designs for a 50,000 lbf thrust and 1250 psi chamber pressure combustor using liquid oxygen (LOX)RP-1 propellants are developed and evaluated. Tradeoffs between key design parameters affecting combustor performance and stability are examined. Predicted performance and combustion stability margin for these designs are provided as a function of the combustor operating mixture ratio and chamber pressure.

Klem, Mark D.↗

NASA NTRS1990

The sheath structure around a negatively charged rocket payload

The sheath structure around a rocket payload charged up to 460 V negative relative to the ambient ionospheric plasma is investigated experimentally and by computer simulations. The experimental results come from the Charge 2 sounding rocket experiment in which the payload was split into two separate sections (mother and daughter) connected with a conducting, insulated tether. In one of the experimental modes, the voltage between the payloads was increased linearly from 0 to 460 V in 2.5 s. A floating probe array was mounted on the mother with probes located 25, 50, 75, and 100 cm from the rocket surface. The internal impedance of the array was smaller than the probe/plasma impedance, which influenced the potential measurements. The measurements contain signatures, resulting from the outward expansion of the ion sheath with increasing negative mother potential. This conclusion is substantiated by computer simulations of space charge limited flow.

Neubert, T.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Combustor design and analysis using the ROCket Combustor Interactive Design (ROCCID) Methodology

Klem, Mark D.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Current waveforms analyses of lightning flashes triggered by the rocket and wire technique

Presented in this paper are the main results of the 1987 Rocket Triggered Lightning Program (RTLP) in Florida: I greater than 60 kA, DI/DT greater than 400 kA/micro-S. Optical and electrical observations from flashes triggered by grounded wire or insulating cable (200 m) rocket technique are presented. Correlation between I and DI/DT measurements are presented and discussed. These measurements were carried out with the same grounded wire rocket technique in Florida in 1985, 1987, and in France in 1986.

Eybert-Berard, A.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Calibration of the Berkeley EUV Airglow Rocket Spectrometer

The Berkeley Extreme-ultraviolet Airglow Rocket Spectrometer (BEARS), a multiinstrument sounding rocket payload, made comprehensive measurements of the earth's dayglow. The primary instruments consisted of two near-normal Rowland mount spectrometers: one channel to measure several atomic oxygen features at high spectral resolution (about 1.5 A) in the band passes 980-1040 and 1300-1360 A, and the other to measure EUV dayglow and the solar EUV simultaneously in a much broader bandpass (250-1150 A) at moderate resolution (about 10 A). The payload also included a hydrogen Lyman-alpha photometer to monitor the solar irradiance and goecoronal emissions. The instrument was calibrated at the EUV calibration facility at the University of California at Berkeley, and was subsequently launched successfully on September 30, 1988 aboard a four-stage experimental sounding rocket, Black Brant XII flight 12.041 WT. The calibration procedure and resulting data are presented.

Cotton, Daniel M.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Emergency egress fixed rocket package

A method of effecting the in-flight departure of an astronaut from a shuttle craft, and apparatus is presented. A plurality of removeable compartment covers are provided, behind which rocket assemblies are stowed. To actuate the system, the astronaut pulls off a tab from one of the compartments which exposes a cannister having a lanyard with a hook. The lanyard extends around a spring biased sleeve with a safety lever preventing rocket ignition until the hook is moved by the astronaut. Upward movement of the hook allows the trigger mechanism to actuate the system resulting in the rods projecting out of the hatch. When the lanyard becomes taut, a lanyard elongation detector transmits a signal to the firing mechanisms to fire the rocket.

Allen, Margaret A.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Cooling of in-situ propellant rocket engines for Mars mission

One propulsion option of a Mars ascent/descent vehicle is multiple high-pressure, pump-fed rocket engines using in-situ propellants, which have been derived from substances available on the Martian surface. The chosen in-situ propellant combination for this analysis is carbon monoxide as the fuel and oxygen as the oxidizer. Both could be extracted from carbon dioxide, which makes up 96 percent of the Martian atmosphere. A pump-fed rocket engine allows for higher chamber pressure than a pressure-fed engine, which in turn results in higher thrust and in higher heat flux in the combustion chamber. The heat flowing through the wall cannot be sufficiently dissipated by radiation cooling and, therefore, a regenerative coolant may be necessary to avoid melting the rocket engine. The two possible fluids for this coolant scheme, carbon monoxide and oxygen, are compared analytically. To determine their heat transfer capability, they are evaluated based upon their heat transfer and fluid flow characteristics.

Armstrong, Elizabeth S.↗

NASA NTRS1991

The development of a post-test diagnostic system for rocket engines

An effort was undertaken by NASA to develop an automated post-test, post-flight diagnostic system for rocket engines. The automated system is designed to be generic and to automate the rocket engine data review process. A modular, distributed architecture with a generic software core was chosen to meet the design requirements. The diagnostic system is initially being applied to the Space Shuttle Main Engine data review process. The system modules currently under development are the session/message manager, and portions of the applications section, the component analysis section, and the intelligent knowledge server. An overview is presented of a rocket engine data review process, the design requirements and guidelines, the architecture and modules, and the projected benefits of the automated diagnostic system.

Zakrajsek, June F.↗

NASA NTRS1991

An Historical Perspective of the NERVA Nuclear Rocket Engine Technology Program

Nuclear rocket research and development was initiated in the United States in 1955 and is still being pursued to a limited extent. The major technology emphasis occurred in the decade of the 1960s and was primarily associated with the Rover/NERVA Program where the technology for a nuclear rocket engine system for space application was developed and demonstrated. The NERVA (Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application) technology developed twenty years ago provides a comprehensive and viable propulsion technology base that can be applied and will prove to be valuable for application to the NASA Space Exploration Initiative (SEI). This paper, which is historical in scope, provides an overview of the conduct of the NERVA Engine Program, its organization and management, development philosophy, the engine configuration, and significant accomplishments.

Robbins, W. H.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Search for lightning-induced electron precipitation with rocket-borne photometers

Photometers at 3914 A and 5577 A and an optical imager were part of an experimental package launched on a sounding rocket in the 1987 Wave Induced Particle Precipitation campaign at Wallops Island, Virginia. The objective was to measure lightning-induced electron precipitation (LEP) by means of its optical signature. This was the first attempt to measure LEP using rocket-borne optical instrumentation. Launch criteria included nearby thunderstorm activity and ground-based observations of Trimpi events. Lightning flashes are clearly discernible in the data. The photometer data was also characterized by large spin and precession modulations in the photon count rate, consistent with elevated steady particle fluxes in the northern portion of the instrument field of view. No evidence of LEP was observed by the photometers or onboard particle detectors (Arnoldy and Kintner, 1989). Analysis of the data has made it possible to place an upper limit of 0.0008 ergs/sq cm per sec on any burst precipitation energy flux that may have occurred during the rocket flight in the regions explored by the photometers.

Massey, R. D.↗