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Rocket surgery

Slick

Slick

Well-Known Member
Ran across this video. It was taken at Stennis. Got to spend a couple of days there a while back. Sadly, no engine tests/runs were conducted while I was there. Nice little museum. Still have the t-shirt (retro NASA emblem).

Anyway, watching this, I considered the complexity of it all. This is purported to be the ex- type of main engine for the Shuttle. Apparently being repurposed for a future rocket. A 9 minute burn. 30,000rpm fuel pumps. Kinda high temps. And pressures. And it runs flawlessly.
It's all I can do to get my frikkin' lawnmower started in the Spring!

Full screen it and crank up the volume.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=450&v=nAIZKX9wcqc


I know, not ordy, but rockets can be, so. . .
 
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In 1987 I was working for a company based in Huntsville Alabama, the home of Marshall Space Flight Center. I was privileged to visit the motor rebuild research area where they were considering buying our Automated Intelligence software to capture knowledge about black-art skills like welding, where long experience is very important, especially to weld the titanium used in these engines.

The story was, that each of those RS-25 engines cost $50 million each to build, and they were rebuilt with new liners after each time they are fired up. The titanium manifolds that feed the fuel and oxygen into the burn chamber were heated, beat into position, and welded by very old experienced welders, who all retired after the original quantity of engines were built. No one kept notes on the procedures and that was the type of data they hoped to capture with our software. At that time they wanted to build $5 million throw away engines to be used on a heavy lift booster, but they weren't capable of building new ones because no one wrote down how to do it, and all the old guys were gone.

And now you know one of the reasons why Russian rockets are carrying our astronauts into space.

As Rick said, the impellers on the turbo pumps rotate at 30,000 rpm and are about the size of a large Frisbee and made of titanium. One turbo pump handles the LOX and the other the LH2. Each pump is driven by a gas turbine that is burning the same Hydrogen and Oxygen for fuel. A space shuttle uses 3 RS-25 engines plus the two SRBs for launch. I don't know how many RS-25s were originally built, but they have already lost 6 with the destruction of Challenger and Columbia.
 
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With all the computer hacking going on, I'm guessing the North Koreans and Chinese already have the design.
 
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