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Kestrel (rocket Engine)
The SpaceX Kestrel was an LOX/RP-1 pressure-fed rocket engine. The Kestrel engine was developed in the 2000s by SpaceX for upper stage use on the Falcon 1 rocket. Kestrel is no longer being manufactured; the last flight of Falcon 1 was in 2009. Kestrel was built around the same pintle architecture as the SpaceX Merlin engine but does not have a turbopump and is fed only by tank pressure. Kestrel was ablatively cooled in the chamber and throat and radiatively cooled in the nozzle, which was fabricated from a high strength niobium alloy. As a metal, niobium is highly resistant to cracking compared to carbon-carbon. According to SpaceX, an impact from orbital debris or during stage separation might dent the metal but have no meaningful effect on engine performance. Helium pressurant efficiency is substantially increased via a titanium heat exchanger on the ablative/niobium boundary. Thrust vector control is provided by electro-mechanical actuators on the engine dome for pitc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SpaceX
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launcher, and a satellite communications corporation headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the stated goal of reducing space transportation costs to enable the colonization of Mars. The company manufactures the Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, and Starship launch vehicles, several rocket engines, Cargo Dragon and Crew Dragon spacecraft, and Starlink communications satellites. SpaceX is developing a satellite internet constellation named Starlink to provide commercial internet service. In January 2020, the Starlink constellation became the largest satellite constellation ever launched, and as of December 2022 comprises over 3,300 small satellites in orbit. The company is also developing Starship, a privately funded, fully reusable, super heavy-lift launch system for interplanetary and orbital spaceflight. It is intended to become SpaceX's primary orbi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helium
Helium (from el, ἥλιος, helios, lit=sun) is a chemical element with the symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. Its boiling and melting point are the lowest among all the elements. It is the second lightest and second most abundant element in the observable universe (hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant). It is present at about 24% of the total elemental mass, which is more than 12 times the mass of all the heavier elements combined. Its abundance is similar to this in both the Sun and in Jupiter, due to the very high nuclear binding energy (per nucleon) of helium-4, with respect to the next three elements after helium. This helium-4 binding energy also accounts for why it is a product of both nuclear fusion and radioactive decay. The most common isotope of helium in the universe is helium-4, the vast majority of which was formed during t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Merlin 1C
Merlin is a family of rocket engines developed by SpaceX for use on its Falcon 1, Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles. Merlin engines use RP-1 and liquid oxygen as rocket propellants in a gas-generator power cycle. The Merlin engine was originally designed for sea recovery and reuse, but since 2016 the entire Falcon 9 booster is recovered for reuse by landing vertically on a landing pad using one of its nine Merlin engines. The injector at the heart of Merlin is of the pintle type that was first used in the Apollo Lunar Module landing engine ( LMDE). Propellants are fed by a single-shaft, dual-impeller turbopump. The turbopump also provides high-pressure fluid for the hydraulic actuators, which then recycles into the low-pressure inlet. This eliminates the need for a separate hydraulic drive system and means that thrust vectoring control failure by running out of hydraulic fluid is not possible. Revisions Merlin 1A The initial version, the Merlin 1A, used an in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Falcon 9 V1
Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons have thin, tapered wings, which enable them to fly at high speed and change direction rapidly. Fledgling falcons, in their first year of flying, have longer flight feathers, which make their configuration more like that of a general-purpose bird such as a broad wing. This makes flying easier while learning the exceptional skills required to be effective hunters as adults. The falcons are the largest genus in the Falconinae subfamily of Falconidae, which itself also includes another subfamily comprising caracaras and a few other species. All these birds kill with their beaks, using a tomial "tooth" on the side of their beaks—unlike the hawks, eagles, and other birds of prey in the Accipitridae, which use their feet. The largest falcon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Specific Impulse
Specific impulse (usually abbreviated ) is a measure of how efficiently a reaction mass engine (a rocket using propellant or a jet engine using fuel) creates thrust. For engines whose reaction mass is only the fuel they carry, specific impulse is exactly proportional to the effective exhaust gas velocity. A propulsion system with a higher specific impulse uses the mass of the propellant more efficiently. In the case of a rocket, this means less propellant needed for a given delta-v, so that the vehicle attached to the engine can more efficiently gain altitude and velocity. In an atmospheric context, specific impulse can include the contribution to impulse provided by the mass of external air that is accelerated by the engine in some way, such as by an internal turbofan or heating by fuel combustion participation then thrust expansion or by external propeller. Jet engines breathe external air for both combustion and by-pass, and therefore have a much higher specific impulse than ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2014 Aluminum Alloy
2014 aluminium alloy (aluminum) is an aluminium-based alloy often used in the aerospace industry. It is easily machined in certain tempers, and among the strongest available aluminium alloys, as well as having high hardness. However, it is difficult to weld, as it is subject to cracking. 2014 is the second most popular of the 2000-series aluminium alloys, after 2024 aluminium alloy. It is commonly extruded and forged. The corrosion resistance of this alloy is particularly poor. To combat this, it is often clad with pure aluminium. If unclad 2014 aluminium is to be exposed to the elements, it should be painted as a corrosion protection measure. Prior to the adoption of The Aluminum Association alloy designations in 1954, 2014 was known by the industry conventional designation "14S". Chemical composition The alloy composition of 2014 is: *Aluminium: Remainder *Chromium: 0.1% max *Copper: 3.9% - 5% *Iron: 0.7% max *Magnesium: 0.2% - 0.8% *Manganese: 0.4 - 1.2% *Remainder: Each 0. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2195 Aluminum Alloy
2195 aluminium alloy is an alloy in the wrought aluminium-copper family (2000 or 2xxx series). It is one of the Weldalite family of Aluminium–lithium alloys. It is one of the most complex grades in the 2000 series, with at least 91.9% aluminium by weight. 2195 aluminium can be alternately referred to by the UNS designation A92195. Properties Like most other aluminium-copper alloys, 2195 is a high-strength alloy, with bad workability, and poor corrosion resistance. Being highly alloyed, it tends to fall on the higher strength and lower corrosion resistance side. As a wrought alloy, it is not used in casting. It can be welded, particularly by friction stir welding, and is fracture resistant at cryogenic temperatures. Applications The high strength to weight ratio of this alloy has resulted in its aerospace applications such as the Space Shuttle Super Lightweight external tank. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pressure-fed Engine (rocket)
The pressure-fed engine is a class of rocket engine designs. A separate gas supply, usually helium, pressurizes the propellant tanks to force fuel and oxidizer to the combustion chamber. To maintain adequate flow, the tank pressures must exceed the combustion chamber pressure. Pressure fed engines have simple plumbing and have no need for complex and occasionally unreliable turbopumps. A typical startup procedure begins with opening a valve, often a one-shot pyrotechnic device, to allow the pressurizing gas to flow through check valves into the propellant tanks. Then the propellant valves in the engine itself are opened. If the fuel and oxidizer are hypergolic, they burn on contact; non-hypergolic fuels require an igniter. Multiple burns can be conducted by merely opening and closing the propellant valves as needed, if the pressurization system also has activating valves. They can be operated electrically, or by gas pressure controlled by smaller electrically operated valves. Care ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rocket Ignition
A rocket engine uses stored rocket propellants as the reaction mass for forming a high-speed propulsive jet of fluid, usually high-temperature gas. Rocket engines are reaction engines, producing thrust by ejecting mass rearward, in accordance with Newton's third law. Most rocket engines use the combustion of reactive chemicals to supply the necessary energy, but non-combusting forms such as cold gas thrusters and nuclear thermal rockets also exist. Vehicles propelled by rocket engines are commonly called rockets. Rocket vehicles carry their own oxidiser, unlike most combustion engines, so rocket engines can be used in a vacuum to propel spacecraft and ballistic missiles. Compared to other types of jet engine, rocket engines are the lightest and have the highest thrust, but are the least propellant-efficient (they have the lowest specific impulse). The ideal exhaust is hydrogen, the lightest of all elements, but chemical rockets produce a mix of heavier species, reducing the ex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Triethylborane
Triethylborane (TEB), also called triethylboron, is an organoborane (a compound with a B–C bond). It is a colorless pyrophoric liquid. Its chemical formula is or , abbreviated . It is soluble in organic solvents tetrahydrofuran and hexane. Preparation and structure Triethylborane is prepared by the reaction of trimethyl borate with triethylaluminium: :Et3Al + (MeO)3B → Et3B + (MeO)3Al The molecule is monomeric, unlike H3B and Et3Al, which tend to dimerize. It has a planar BC3 core. Applications Turbojet engine Triethylborane was used to ignite the JP-7 fuel in the Pratt & Whitney J58 turbojet/ramjet engines powering the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird and its predecessor, the A-12 OXCART. Triethylborane is suitable because it ignites readily upon exposure to oxygen. It was chosen as an ignition method for reliability reasons, and in the case of the Blackbird, because JP-7 fuel has very low volatility and is difficult to ignite. Conventional ignition plugs posed a high risk of mal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Triethylaluminium
Triethylaluminium is one of the simplest examples of an organoaluminium compound. Despite its name it has the formula Al2( C2H5)6 (abbreviated as Al2Et6 or TEA), as it exists as a dimer. This colorless liquid is pyrophoric. It is an industrially important compound, closely related to trimethylaluminium. Structure and bonding The structure and bonding in Al2R6 and diborane are analogous (R = alkyl). Referring to Al2Me6, the Al-C(terminal) and Al-C(bridging) distances are 1.97 and 2.14 Å, respectively. The Al center is tetrahedral. The carbon atoms of the bridging ethyl groups are each surrounded by five neighbors: carbon, two hydrogen atoms and two aluminium atoms. The ethyl groups interchange readily intramolecularly. At higher temperatures, the dimer cracks into monomeric AlEt3. Synthesis and reactions Triethylaluminium can be formed via several routes. The discovery of an efficient route was a significant technological achievement. The multistep process uses aluminium m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
