Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne has released the first photos from the full-duration first hot fire tests of a development launch abort engine (LAE) for Boeing’s CST-100 spacecraft completed on March 8 and 9.
Enroute to the remote test area in Mojave (Guy Norris)
The test site in the background to the right of the stand with flag (Guy Norris)
Tanks either side of the engine feed in nitrogen tetroxide and monomethyl hydrazine (PWR)
The initial hot fire tests, conducted at the Polaris-operated Mojave Test Range north of Edwards AFB, Calif, were completed with a 5.5 sec run on March 9. Fuelled by pressure fed nitrogen tetroxide/monomethyl hydrazine, the LAE is treated with ablative materials in the nozzle, throat and injector. “The original Bantam had film-cooling so that decreased performance. With ablatives we don’t have that,” says PWR launch abort program manager Terry Lorier.
Shock diamonds form from the rocket (PWR)
The engine is a lighter, higher performance evolution of the Bantam demonstration engine tested in March 2011 for the “pusher” launch abort system, a critical component of the planned commercial crew transport. Unlike the tower-mounted tractor abort system used by Apollo and other programs, a pusher system propels a spacecraft toward safety if an abort occurs. Tractor systems are ejected after launch, but pusher systems will remain with the vehicle to orbit and the unused propellant can be used for other portions of the mission say developers.
The lengthy plume scorches the desert surface (PWR)
The Bantam engine was “heavyweight and not optimized for performance, but rather for cost. So to adopt it to this application we need to improve performance a little and reduce the weight. So this is an incremental test along the way,” he adds. “We’ll take the data from these tests and the next step will be a flightweight engine.”
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne was selected by Boeing to help design the CST-100 service module and integrated Launch Abort propulsion system under Boeing’s Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) Space Act Agreement with NASA. As well as the four main LAE engines, the system includes orbital maneuvering, attitude control (OMAC) engines and reaction control thrusters. A preliminary design review (PDR) for the service module was passed in January and Boeing completed the overall CST-100 PDR in February.
Companies pursuing NASA’s Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCIP) initiative, the follow up to the current CCDev 2 phase, are expected to submit bids by March 23.
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