Space Launch SystemThe Space Launch System (SLS) is an American two-stage super heavy-lift expendable launch vehicle used by NASA. The primary launch vehicle for the Artemis program, SLS is designed to launch the four-person Orion spacecraft. The rocket first launched in November 2022, carrying the uncrewed Artemis I mission.
Cryogenic rocket engineA cryogenic rocket engine is a rocket engine that uses a cryogenic fuel and oxidizer; that is, both its fuel and oxidizer are gases which have been liquefied and are stored at very low temperatures. These highly efficient engines were first flown on the US Atlas-Centaur and were one of the main factors of NASA's success in reaching the Moon by the Saturn V rocket. Rocket engines burning cryogenic propellants remain in use today on high performance upper stages and boosters.
Space ShuttleThe Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program name was the Space Transportation System (STS), taken from the 1969 plan led by U.S. vice president Spiro Agnew for a system of reusable spacecraft where it was the only item funded for development.Cryogenic fuelCryogenic fuels are fuels that require storage at extremely low temperatures in order to maintain them in a liquid state.
Aerojet RocketdyneAerojet Rocketdyne was a company, and later a subsidiary of American defense company L3Harris, that manufactured rocket, hypersonic, and electric propulsive systems for space, defense, civil and commercial applications. Aerojet traced its origins to the General Tire and Rubber Company (later renamed GenCorp, Inc. as it diversified) established in 1915, while Rocketdyne was created as a division of North American Aviation in 1955.
RocketdyneRocketdyne was an American rocket engine design and production company headquartered in Canoga Park, in the western San Fernando Valley of suburban Los Angeles, in southern California. Rocketdyne was founded as a division of North American Aviation in 1955 and was later part of Rockwell International from 1967 until 1996 and Boeing from 1996 to 2005.
Liquid hydrogenLiquid hydrogen (H2(l)) is the liquid state of the element hydrogen. Hydrogen is found naturally in the molecular H2 form. To exist as a liquid, H2 must be cooled below its critical point of 33 K. However, for it to be in a fully liquid state at atmospheric pressure, H2 needs to be cooled to 20.28 K (−252.87 °C; −423.17 °F). A common method of obtaining liquid hydrogen involves a compressor resembling a jet engine in both appearance and principle.
Liquid oxygenLiquid oxygen, sometimes abbreviated as LOX or LOXygen, is a clear, pale cyan liquid form of dioxygen O2. It was used as the oxidizer in the first liquid-fueled rocket invented in 1926 by Robert H. Goddard, an application which is ongoing.
ThrustThrust is a reactionforce described quantitatively by Newton's third law. When a system expels or acceleratesmass in one direction, the accelerated mass will cause a force of equal magnitude but opposite direction to be applied to that system. The force applied on a surface in a direction perpendicular or normal to the surface is also called thrust.
NASAAmerican space and aeronautics agencyThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government responsible for the United States' civil space program, as well as research in aeronautics and space. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., NASA operates ten field centers across the US and is organized into three mission directorates: Human Spaceflight, Research and Technology, and Science.Pratt & Whitney RocketdynePratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR) was an American company that designed and produced rocket engines that use liquid propellants. It was a division of Pratt & Whitney, a fully owned subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation. It was headquartered in Canoga Park, Los Angeles, California. In 2013, the company was sold to GenCorp,Inc., becoming part of Aerojet Rocketdyne.
Liquid-propellant rocketA liquid-propellant rocket or liquid rocket uses a rocket engine burning liquid propellants. (Alternate approaches use gaseous or solid propellants.) Liquids are desirable propellants because they have reasonably high density and their combustion products have high specific impulse (Isp). This allows the volume of the propellant tanks to be relatively low.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.