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Hi, I'm Leigh and this week on NASA Now, Propulsion.
Even the word makes you want to jump up!
It actually comes from two Latin words, Pro meaning forward
and Pellere meaning to drive.
Today we are going to learn about the basic principles
of a rocket engine and discover how
"Newtown's Laws" play a vital role.That's ahead,
but first let's finds out what's happening at NASA now!
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Earlier this month a new rocket engine was tested
at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.
This new liquid fuel, AJ26, engine will be used
to power commercial cargo flights
to the International Space Station
on the Taurus II space vehicle.
There are an estimated eight cargo missions slated to go
to the space station
on the Taurus II space vehicle through 2015.
Now, it's time to take a look at the past.
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5...4...3...
NASA's FIRST rocket that launched man
to the moon was the Saturn V. Used by the Apollo program
from 1967 to 1973, it remains the largest
and most powerful launch vehicle ever brought
to operational status.
The Saturn V was 363 feet long.
It weighed 6,699,000 pounds and its payload
to low Earth orbit was 262,000 pounds or 131 tons.
Here to tell us about propulsion
and rocket testing is Dr. Lou Povinelli, Propulsion Specialist
and Project Scientist for the Supersonic Fundamental
Aeronautics Project at NASA John Glenn Research Center
in Cleveland Ohio.
My name is Dr. Lou Povinelli.
I am a Propulsion Specialist.
I work at NASA Glenn Research Center.
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A rocket is a propulsive device or a device
which will generate motion.
That has to operate with it's own fuel and oxidizer in order
to escape the atmosphere.
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In this particular context we are talking about the means
by which we can explore space and go to other planets.
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I think Newton pretty well described it
with his law of motion.
That said, the thrust or the force that you get
out of a propulsion system is equal
to the mass times change in velocity.
So, if you have combusting gases inside of the rocket chamber,
the chemical energy that is stored in the fuel
and oxidizer gets converted into kinetic energy as it goes
out through the exhaust; the converging
and diverging portion of the nozzle.
So, the product of the mass and a change
in velocity is what gives the thrust.
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We're only firing the first stage while we're
in the atmosphere.
So, as we get into a second or a third stage,
you are now in a different environment.
And so our concerns are, given the environmental conditions
that exist with varying altitude, how can we ensure
that the second stage and the third stage will light properly?
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What we do at Plum Brook, of course, is try and simulate
that assent profile where the altitude is changing rapidly
and where the temperature and pressure
of the atmosphere is varying dramatically.
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Someday we hope to have a complete theoretical basis
for designing a new rocket engine system
so we never have to test it.
We are not there yet.
We need some of those students to come up with that math
and physics background in order to help us reach that point.
Now let's head to the place where space comes down to Earth,
Plum Brook Station near Sandusky, Ohio.
That's where we caught up with Mechanical Engineer Brian Jones
who tells us what's involved when it comes to rocket testing.
Hi, I'm Brian Jones.
I'm a Mechanical Engineer
at the Spacecraft Propulsion Research Facility also know
as B-2.
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B-2 is special because, not only is it NASA's third largest
thermal vacuum chamber; it is the only facility of its type
that can test a full scale, upper stage rocket engine
in a space environment.
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Space is a very hazardous environment.
It's a total vacuum, there's extreme cold and radiation.
Because it is such an extreme environment, it is important
to test in the simulation of that environment.
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In order to do a rocket test, we lift it with our 20-ton crane
and drop it into the opening of the test chamber.
The test chamber lid is lowered
to pull vacuum on the test chamber.
The test article is then exposed to the space environment
for about a day or two to see if they'll restart
because that is a big problem with upper stage engines.
This is an example of a typical upper stage engine
that we would test at this facility.
This particular model produces about 15,000 pounds of thrust.
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Now we are entering the test chamber.
This is where rockets are tested in a space environment.
It is roughly 30-feet in diameter by 60-feet tall.
The rockets are lowered in the test chamber
onto this structure right here beside me.
This is the thrust takeout stand.
This secures the rocket; first so it doesn't fly
out of the test chamber and second it measures the thrust
that the rocket produces.
The rocket will fire into an exhaust defuser.
It extends about 38-feet
down from the floor of the test chamber.
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This room right here is the B-2 control room.
From here we can operate everything we need
to do in a test remotely.
The B control building is about a half a mile away
from the B-2 facility and this is to ensure the safety
of everyone involved in the test.
They can actuate valves, take data measurement
or monitor pressures, temperatures, video screens,
anything that we need.
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Did you know that just 20 seconds worth of fuel remained
in the Apollo 11's Lunar Module when it landed on the Moon?
Well, now you know.
Now, it's time to check out what's up.
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NanoSail-D, the first Earth orbiting solar sail has been
spotted streaking across the sky.
As it sinks closer to Earth, it could flash ten
to 100 times brighter than the planet Venus.
It's the second solar sail to ever be successfully deployed
and the first to orbit Earth.
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Hey, now it's your turn to become Rocket Scientists.
Check out this week's activity
on the NASA Explorer School's Virtual Campus.
This week you are your classmates are going
to construct water propelled engines out of soft drink cans.
Think of it as the pop can hero engine.
To get started, visit http://explorerschools.nasa.gov.
Well that's it for NASA Now.
Be sure to tune in next week when we learn about solar storms
and the effect they have on the International Space Station.
We'll see you then on NASA Now!
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NASA Now comes to you from the Virtual Campus
at NASA Explorer Schools.