MAE 4262: ROCKETS AND MISSION ANALYSIS

Introduction and Course Overview

August 19, 2014

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department
Florida Institute of Technology
D. R. Kirk

ROCKET VS. AIR-BREATHING PROPULSION

Take mass stored in a vehicle and throw Capture mass from environment and set that
it backwards
mass in motion backwards
Use reaction force to propel vehicle Use reaction force to propel vehicle
All fuel and oxidizer are carried
Only fuel is carried onboard
onboard the vehicle
Oxidizer (air) is harvested
Rocket and Mission Analysis
continuously during flight
(MAE: 4262)
Air-Breathing Engines (MAE: 4261)

WHAT DID NEWTON SAY?

Mutationem motus proportionalem esse vi motrici
impressae, et fieri secundum lineam rectam qua
vis illa imprimitur.

Baseball

Newton's First and Second laws, in

Latin, from the original 1687 edition
of the Principia Mathematica.

d
dV
dm
F mV m
V
dt
dt
dt
F ma

d
dt

Rocket
mV m dV

F ma V

dt

dm
dt

dm
dt

IS THIS CORRECT?

HOW ALL(?) ROCKETS WORKS

Chemical
Energy

Rocket Propulsion (class of jet propulsion) that

produces thrust by ejecting stored matter

Thermal
Energy

Kinetic
Energy

F m eVe Pe Pa Ae
F m eVe

Propellants are combined in a combustion chamber

where chemically react to form high T&P gases
Gases accelerated and ejected at high velocity
through nozzle, imparting momentum to engine
Thrust force of rocket motor is reaction experienced
by structure due to ejection of high velocity matter
Same phenomenon which pushes a garden hose
backward as water flows from nozzle, gun recoil
Examples to come in next lecture: mass, momentum
and derivation of Rocket Equation

QUESTION (Hill and Peterson, Chapter 1, p.3):

Could a jet or rocket engine exert thrust while
discharging into a vacuum (with not atmosphere to
push against)?

HOW AN AIRCRAFT ENGINE WORKS

Chemical
Energy

Thermal
Energy

F m eVe m oVo Pe Pa Ae
F m Ve Vo

Kinetic
Energy

Force ~ (ingested mass flow) x (exit velocity-inlet velocity)

Flow through engine is conventionally called THRUST

Composed of net change in momentum of inlet and exit air
Fluid that passes around engine is conventionally called DRAG

SUMMARY: ESTIMATES FOR THRUST

F m Ve

Rocket

F m Ve Vo

Air-Breathing Engine

Points to remember:
Mass flow for rocket is propellant carried onboard (fuel + oxidizer)
Mass for air-breathing engine is fuel carried onboard and air harvested
from environment as airplane flies
Rockets usually require far higher thrust levels than airplanes
Airplanes usually fly for far greater durations than rockets

WHY ROCKET PROPULSION?

Rockets provide means to:

Insert payloads into space (satellites, experiments, defense applications, etc.)
Space exploration (Atmospheric, solar system)
Weapons (wide range of missiles (ICBM))
Rapid change in momentum devices (retro-rockets, JATO, car air bags)
Precise, continuous or pulsed, momentum change (station keeping)

Rockets have many advantages/disadvantages over other propulsion devices

Advantages: orbital insertion, deep space travel, etc.
Disadvantages: carry propellant, small payload fraction (STS ~0.01), etc.

Rockets vs. Airplanes

Rockets insensitive to environment
Reduced payload fraction (~ 0.02 vs. ~ 0.2)
Higher power, energy limited, etc.

WHAT IS ROCKET SCIENCE?

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A ROCKET SCIENTIST?

Rocket propulsion is an exact, but not a fundamental subject

There are no basic scientific laws of nature peculiar to propulsion

PERFORMANCE MEASURES: THRUST

Some Example T/W Numbers:

Very Large: 20-100, Chemical Rockets
Typical payload fraction ~ 0.02 (mass of payload/mass of entire rocket)
Engines ~ 2 x payload
Combustion Temp ~ 2500-4500 K, Ve ~ 1,500-4,500 m/s
Medium: 5-20, Nuclear
Very Low: O(10-3), Solar, Electric Propulsion, Power Limited

For our simple rocket we had (Pe=Pa):

For a given exit momentum flux relative to rocket, thrust is independent of flight speed of
vehicle.

F m eVe

QUESTION (Hill and Peterson, Chapter 1, p.3):

Could a rocket vehicle be propelled to a speed much higher than the speed at which the jet
leaves the rocket nozzle?
How about for an airplane?

PERFORMANCE MEASURES: SPECIFIC IMPULSE

Specific Impulse, Isp, (measured in seconds)

Specific impulse is the amount of thrust you get for the fuel weight flow rate

F
N

m e g earth
kg m
s s 2

m eVe
V
F
Isp

e
m e g earth m e g earth g earth
Isp

kg m

s
s
kg m
s s 2

ge is measured on the earths surface, ge=9.8 m/s2

Some Example Numbers
Chemical rocket range: 200-450 s (500 is just about the limit)
Shuttle Main Engine: 455 s (T=1,670 kN each), SRB: 250 s (T=14,700 kN each)
Trade-off vs. mass for electric propulsion, 500-6000 s
Nuclear electric rocket: 20,000 s (T/W=0.0001)

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW TO BE A ROCKET SCIENTIST

1. Thrust, [N]
How much Force?
T/W is key metric for launch vehicles
Less important with space exploration applications
2. Specific Impulse, [sec]
How Efficient?
High thrust (chemical) have low specific impulse
High specific impulse (electric) rockets usually have low thrust
Increasingly important for space exploration applications
Increases with increasing temperature and decreasing molecular weight
3. Rocket Equation, [m/s] (1 form of many, no drag)

M initial
V Ve ln
M
final

When and How Fast?

gt

COURSE CONTENT

Governing rocket parameters (T, T/W, Isp, )

Derivation of rocket equation
Mass + momentum
Liquid and solid chemical (thermal) rockets
Configurations, propellants, combustion, performance
Electric propulsion and nuclear thermal propulsion
Configurations, propellants, energy conversion, performance
Mission analysis
How do you get from surface of earth to orbit?
How to you transfer from one orbit to another?
How do you explore deep space?
What type of research and development is going on now?
Course content has changed significantly since 2004 / 2006
New NASA administrator
Renewed emphasis on space exploration

LIQUID AND SOLID SYSTEMS

Liquid Propellants
Fuel: LH2
Oxidizer: LOX
Solid Rocket Boosters

Why use a combination of liquid and solid rockets?

Is LH2-LOX best combination?

Many Russian rockets use LOX-kerosene
Saturn V burned LOX-kerosene in 1st stage
Saturn V burned LH2-LOX in 2nd stage

What other propellant combinations could be used?

Consider LH2-F2

Why are low molecular weight propellants desired?

Why is aluminum added to solid rocket boosters?

If a little aluminum is good, is a lot better?
Why are high molecular weight propellants desired?

EXAMPLE: STS EXTERNAL TANK

External tank contains liquid hydrogen fuel and liquid oxygen oxidizer
~1 million pounds of LO2 and ~200,000 lb LH2, r = O/F~5

So if there is 5 times as much oxidizer as fuel, why is H 2 tank so much bigger?

HOW ARE ROCKET NOZZLES SHAPPED?

Russian vs. US nozzles

Russian vs. US
combustion technology
Design nozzle using
simple MOC

LINEAR AEROSPIKE ENGINE

ROCKET STAGING

Multi-stage booster is cheaper than single stage rocket

for inserting a given payload into orbit
Discard empty tanks and extra structure as rocket
travels, so that mass is not subjected to gravity losses
Large engines used for initial high thrust phase, may
produce excessive accelerations when propellant is
nearly consumed
Multistage rocket is a series of individual vehicles or
stages, each with its own structure, tanks and engines.
Each stage accelerates payload before being detached

Two points:
1. Stages are ordered in number of firing
2. Analysis of multistage rockets is similar to that for
single stage
Payload for an particular stage is mass of all
subsequent stages

CYCLE ANALYSIS
GOAL: Understand and describe propellant feed system / rocket cycle

NOTE: Usually denser of two propellants is placed forward

Shifts center of mass forward increases stability
For STS, LOX is forward since it is denser than LH 2

CYCLE ANALYSIS

For liquid rockets:

How do we feed propellants into combustion chamber?
How do we select a pressurization cycle?

For liquid and solid rockets:

How do we ensure structural integrity and cool hot components?

How can we represent this complex system in a simplified way?

SSME FLOW DIAGRAM

CHEMICAL: LIQUID VS. SOLID ROCKETS

Liquid Rockets
Advantages
Throttle, shutdown, High Isp
(SSME Isp ~ 450 s)
Disadvantages
Highly complex (plumbing,
cooling, steerting, throttle,
structures, etc.)
Liquid-Propellant
Rocket Engine 11D33

Solid Rockets
Advantages
Simple, low cost, safe, stability,
dense and compact volume
Disadvantages
Lower specific impulse than
liquids (SRB Isp ~ 242 s)
No shut down

SOLID ROCKET GRAIN GEOMETRY

Minuteman first stage motor

EXAMPLE: MODEL ROCKET ENGINES

Example of a solid rocket motor, operation similar to that of large-scale

Mixture of materials very similar to gunpowder, contain nitrate compound like potassium
nitrate or sodium nitrate, carbon, and sulfur (STS SRB aluminum powder)
More Information on Model Rockets:
http://www.apogeerockets.com/education/how_engines_work.asp
http://www.rockets-2-go.com/rockets/information/rocketengines.htm

ELECTRIC: ION THRUSTERS

Designer: Rocketdyne.

Developed in: 1999.

Propellants: Electric/Xenon
Thrust (vac): 0.000 kgf.

Isp: 3,500 s

Satellite orbit raising and station-keeping

applications.
Thrust created accelerating positive ions
through gridded electrodes, more than
3,000 tiny beams of thrust.
Ions ejected travel in an invisible stream at
a speed of 30 kilometers per second (62,900
miles per hour), nearly 10 times that of its
chemical counterpart.
Ion thrusters operate at lower force levels,
attitude disturbances during thruster
operation are reduced, further simplifying
the stationkeeping task.

For more on Electric Propulsion:

http://hpcc.engin.umich.edu/CFD/research/NGPD/Ele
ctricPropulsion/
http://www.marsacademy.com/propul/propul7.htm
http://richard.hofer.com/electric_propulsion.html
http://www.stanford.edu/group/pdl/EP/EP.html

ROCKET CLASSIFICATION 1

Rockets may be classified in many ways:

1. Depending on energy source (chemicals, fission, fusion, sun, etc.)
2. Depending on gas acceleration mechanism / force on vehicle mechanism
3. Basic function (booster, sustainer, station keeping)
4. Type of vehicle (missile, aircraft, spaceship)
5. Based on performance measures (T/W, Isp, ) and/or propellant types
6. By number of stages

For our purposes, primary distinction will be between chemical and electrical
rocket propulsion systems
Many texts, scientists, and researchers will use chemical and thermal
interchangeably
Chemical rockets are thermal (convert thermal energy to kinetic energy)
Strictly speaking, electrical rockets may also operate on thermal to kinetic
energy conversion (electrothermal)
Nuclear rockets can be electrical or thermal

ROCKET CLASSIFICATION 2

Common Types (covered in 4262) and Cold Flow Comparison

ROCKET TYPE

THRUST

MASS FLOW

Isp (s)

Cold Flow

Low

Low

150

Chemical

High

High

400

Electrical

Low

Low

3,000

Nuclear Thermal

Mid

Mid

900

ROCKET CLASSIFICATION 3

Another way to classify rocket engines depends on propellant (gas) acceleration

mechanism or force on vehicle mechanism
Thermal
Gas pushes directly on walls by pressure forces
Nozzle accelerates gas by pressure forces
Large rockets, all chemical, some nuclear, some electric (arcjet, resistojet)
Electrostatic
Ions accelerated by E field
Electrostatic force (push) on electrodes (Ion Engines)
Force (push) on magnetic coils through j (Hall Thrusters)
Electromagnetic
Gas accelerated by j x B body forces
Force (push) on coils or conductors (magnetoplasmadynamic (MPD))

Distinction between Chemical and Electrical

Energy vs. Power Limited

ENERGY VS. POWER LIMITED

Chemical Rockets are Energy Limited

Unit of Energy: JOULE, Energy = F*Displacement = [kg m/s2]*[m] = [kg m2/s2]
Quantity of energy (per unit mass of propellant) that can be released during
combustion is limited by fundamental chemical behavior of propellant
Low Isp: high thrust, launch, high thrust escape at perigee

Electrical Rockets are Power Limited

Unit of Power: WATT (J/s), Power = F*V = [kg m/s2]*[m/s] = [kg m2/s3]
Usually a separate energy source is used (nuclear or solar) and much higher
propellant energy is possible. However, rate of conversion of nuclear or solar
energy to electrical energy and thence to propellant kinetic energy is limited by
mass of conversion equipment required. Since mass is large portion of total
mass of vehicle, electrical rocket is essentially power limited.

Question:
What are units of Energy / Power ratio?
How does this quantity relate to propulsion (rockets or aircraft)?

ENERGY LIMITED VS. POWER LIMITED

Electrical Rockets are Power Limited

Chemical Rockets are Energy Limited

Quantity of energy that can be released
during combustion is limited by
fundamental chemical behavior of propellant
ROCKET TYPE

MASS FLOW

EXHAUST SPEED

THRUST

Isp

Chemical

High

Low

High

Low

Electrical

Low

High

Low

High

ENERGY/POWER COMPARISON

Ratio of energy to power has units of seconds

Natural definition of specific impulse arises from ratio of energy to power

Captures general trend:

Solid rocket: Isp ~ 200 second most energy limited, highest power
Liquid rocket: Isp ~ 400 seconds energy limited, high power
Nuclear thermal rocket: Isp ~ 900 seconds energy and power balanced
Ion thruster (electric): Isp ~ 3,000 seconds substantial energy, low power

CHEMICAL vs. ELECTRIC ROCKET PROPULSION

CHEMICAL

Always thermal

Energy / propellant initially together

Energy source is combustion

Energy limited
Best propellants, Ue ~ 4,500 m/s
Isp ~ 100-500 s
Thrust ~ 0.1 N-10 MN

Propellant and Energy decrease with time

High Thrust, Low Isp, High mdot, Fast ao, Short tburn
Thrust independent of tburn

tburn ~O(seconds)

ELECTRIC
Some are thermal (resistojet, arcjet)
Some are non-thermal (ion, hall effect, MPD)

Energy source / propellant separate initially

Energy source onboard or external

Solar, Nuclear
Energy conversion equipment onboard (heavy)

Unlimited energy
Very high Ue (10,000-100,000 m/s)
Isp ~ 1,000-10,000 s
Thrust ~ N-N

Propellant decreases with time

Energy remains constant with time

Low Thrust, High Isp, Low mdot, Slow ao, Long tburn
Thrust inversely proportional to tburn
tburn ~O(days-months-years)

Earth to orbit missions, low V

Station keeping, deep space exploration, high V

Origin of Thrust: Eject Stored Mass Backwards

Use Reaction Force to Propel Vehicle

Rocket Equation is Always True

WHAT IS ENERGY LIMIT: E=MC2

Pay attention to units of theoretical specific impulse (m/s) on this slide

ADVANCED PROPULSION TECHNOLOGIES

Solar sailing is a method of converting light energy from the

sun into a source of propulsion for spacecraft
Obtain propulsive power directly from Sun
No Engine No Need to Carry Fuel
Photons are reflected off giant, mirror-like sails made of thin,
lightweight, reflective material
Continuous pressure exerted by photons provide thrust
Very high Isp ~O(107-108 sec)
Open up new regions of solar system for exploration, with no
environmental impact on Earth
Leading candidate for missions that require spacecraft to hover
or hold position in space, rather than orbit the Earth of Sun
May also extend duration of other missions

Light Sails Do NOT harvest solar wind for their propulsion

(solar wind < 0.1% due to that of light pressure)

Do not convert to electricity like solar cells

THE FUTURE OF SPACE PROPULSION (?)

MOMENTUM EXCHANGE TETHERS

Momentum-eXchange/Electrodynamic-Reboost (MXER) tether is combination
of technologies designed to help propel satellites and spacecraft
Long, strong cable rotating in an elliptical orbit around Earth
Like a catapult, one end of tether catches payloads in LEO, accelerates them to
higher velocities, and then throws them into higher-energy orbits
Momentum to payload restored using ED forces to push against Earths B field
Solar power drives ionospheric current, tether reboost without using propellant

ANTIMATTER PROPULSION

= 1/10th gram
antimatter

Propelling spacecraft by the annihilation of

matter and antimatter is being actively
investigate
An equal mixture of matter and antimatter
provides the highest energy density of any
known propellant
Most efficient chemical reactions produce
about 1 x 107 J/kg, nuclear fission 8 x 1013 J/kg,
and nuclear fusion 3 x 1014 J/kg, complete
annihilation of matter and antimatter, E = mc 2,
yields 9 x 1016 J/kg.
Matter-antimatter annihilation releases about
ten billion times more energy than H2/LOX
mixture that powers SSME and 300 times more
than the fusion reactions at Sun's core
Antimatter must be manufactured
1 gram of antimatter ~ $62.5 trillion
Isp ~ 10,000,000
Mars in 2 hours

ROCKET PERFORMANCE COMPARISON

DERIVATIVE AND UNIQUE ROCKET APPLICATIONS

EXAMPLE: AUTOMOBILE AIRBAG

Airbags have been
clocked at 300 MPH.
Most airbags deploy
at 200-300 mph.
Side airbags deploy
at 3 times speed of
frontal airbags

Airbag inflators are a spin-off of

military and rocket industries
Equivalent of solid rocket booster
Major suppliers of inflators is rocket
fuel manufacturer, Morton Thiokol (also
make space shuttle boosters).

Why Rocket-type? How does it work?

To ignite, 12 volt input from airbag
control computer, heats a resistive wire
element initiating exothermic chemical
reaction which decomposes sodium
azide (NaN3) in a three step process.
Chemical deflagration includes
potassium nitrate (KNO3) and silicon
dioxide (SiO2).
Sodium azide (NaN3) and potassium
nitrate (KNO3) react very quickly to
produce a large pulse of hot nitrogen
gas

LAUNCH VEHICLES
ROCKET SELECTION GUIDE

TYPES OF ROCKETS
LAUNCHERS

SPACECRAFT

SPACE STATIONS

Atlas (USA)

Mercury (USA)

Skylab (USA)

Delta (USA)

Gemini (USA)

Salyut (USSR)

Titan (USA)

Apollo (USA)

Mir (Russia)

Pegasus (USA)

Shuttle Orbiter (USA)

ISS

Saturn (USA)

Vostok (USSR)

Space Shuttle (USA)

Soyuz (Russia)

A-Vehicle (Russia)
Proton (Russia)
Long March (China)
For more information:
http://users.commkey.net/Braeunig/space/specs.htm
http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/bss/factsheets/xips/xips.html

EXAMPLE: ATLAS / CENTAUR

Independently developed by USAF as first

ICBM, cold war mission to deter nuclear attack
Part of Project Mercury. Mission goal to put a
human into orbit, accomplished Feb. 20, 1962.
Used today to launch payloads into orbit

ATLAS CENTAUR FAMILY RECORD

First launch: 8-May-1962
Number launched: 97 to end-1995
Launch sites: Cape Canaveral pads 36A/B;
Vandenberg AFB SLC-3E from 1998
Vehicle success rate: 86.60% to end-1995
Success rate, past 20 launches: 100% to end1995
For more on Atlas / Centaur Rockets:
http://users.commkey.net/Braeunig/space/specs.htm

EXAMPLE: ATLAS IIAS

47 m tall, 3-4 m diameter, 234,000 kg

Lockheed-Martin 2-stage liquid propellant
(LOX-RP1) booster
$95-105M per launch
First stage booster section
2 Rocketdyne engines
1.84 MN thrust, Isp=263 seconds
runs about 3 minutes
Second stage is sustainer section
1 Rocketdyne engine
269 KN thrust, Isp=220 seconds
5 minutes burn with booster
Strap-on solid rockets
Four Thiokol Castor IVA SRMs
433 KN thrust, Isp=229 seconds
9 m tall, 1 m diameter, 12K kg
Burn about 56 seconds
Uses a Centaur upper stage
2 Pratt & Whitney engines
LOX-LH2
185 KN thrust, Isp=449 seconds
1st engine runs about 5 minutes
2nd engine runs about 1-2 minutes

EXAMPLE: DELTA

In use since 1960, Delta launched successfully

over 250 times
Scientific satellites placed into orbit by a Delta
rocket include IUE, COBE, ROSAT, EUVE,
WIND, RXTE, Iridium, Navstar GPS
Manufactured for USAF and NASA by Boeing

DELTA FAMILY RECORD

First launch: 13-May-1960
Number launched: 230 to end-1995
Launch sites: Cape Canaveral pads 17A/B;
Vandenberg AFB SLC-2W
Vehicle success rate: 94.8%
Success rate, past 25 launches: 100%
For more Delta Rockets:
http://users.commkey.net/Braeunig/space/specs.htm

EXAMPLE: TITAN

Titan is a family of expendable rockets.

Most Titans are derivatives of Titan II ICBM.
Titan III is stretched Titan II with optional
solid rocket boosters. Used to launch NASA
scientific probes such as the Voyagers.
Titan IV is stretched Titan III with nonoptional solid rocket boosters. Used to launch
US Military payloads, NASA's Galileo and
Cassini probes to Jupiter and Saturn.
Titan IV is a horrendously expensive launch
vehicle.
Current owners of Titan line (LockheedMartin) decided to extend Atlas family instead
of Titans.
Titan is extinct

For more on Titan Rockets:

http://users.commkey.net/Braeunig/space/specs.htm

EXAMPLE: STS

Space Shuttle developed by NASA. NASA

coordinates and manages, oversees launch
and space flight requirements for civilian and
commercial use.
STS consists of four primary elements:
orbiter spacecraft, two Solid Rocket Boosters
(SRB), an external tank for three Shuttle main
engines
Shuttle will transport cargo into near Earth
orbit 100 to 217 nautical miles (115 to 250
statute miles) above the Earth. Payload is
carried in bay 15 feet in diameter, 60 ft long.
1st Launch: April 12, 1981, 7:00:03 a.m, EST.

For more on STS:

http://users.commkey.net/Braeunig/space/specs.htm

EXAMPLE: A-VEHICLE (RUSSIA)

A-class Soviet launch vehicles are based on

Soviet SS-6 ICBM
Vehicles in this class are Vostok, Soyuz and
Molniya launchers
Three vehicles all use same core stage and
four strap-on boosters (liquid oxygen and
kerosene propellant)

QUESTION:
Why does this rocket have many primary
engines (20 in picture) instead of 1 or 2
primary engines?
Note: Saturn V was powered by 5 F-1
engines. Why not just use 1 big one?

For more on A-Vehicles:

http://users.commkey.net/Braeunig/space/specs.htm

DEPARTMENT OF REDUNDANCY DEPARTMENT

Why so many engines?

Why not just use 1 big engine?

ROCKET SCALING EXAMPLE

Thrust scales with throat area, A*

Recall Thrust = (mass flow) x (exit velocity)
Mass flow depends on A*
A* scales with L2

Weight scales with volume, V

V scales with L3

T/W, therefore scales with 1/L

So what?
Take baseline engine and makes 4, -size copies of it
1/4th A* of original
1/8th Volume of original
4 engines together produce same thrust as baseline, but only weight half as much!
Do same with half size engine, and make 16 quarter-sized engines
Together produce same thrust as original, but weigh a quarter of original
In theory, process could be continued indefinitely
Massively-parallel thrust system with a very high thrust to weight ratio

EXAMPLE: PROTON (RUSSIA)

Proton medium-lift launch vehicle 1965

First Russian launcher not based on a
ballistic missile prototype.
Proton used in 3 and 4-stage versions, with
3-stage version used for many of Mir
support missions. 4-stage Proton used
primarily for geostationary satellite
missions.
First stage incorporates 6 strap-on boosters,
provides over 2 million pounds of thrust. 3stage Proton launch vehicle can place over
44,000 pounds into LEO, will be used for
largest of ISS components that are launched
by RSA.

For more on Proton Rockets:

http://users.commkey.net/Braeunig/space/specs.htm

FALCON 9: Commercial Space

ROCKET SELECTION GUIDE

MISSION REQUIREMENT

ROCKET TYPE

1. Non-Space Missions
Atmospheric / Ionospheric Sounding
Tactical Missiles
Medium-Long Range Missiles

Solid Propellant, 1-4 stages

Solid Propellant, 1-2 stages
Solid or Liquid Propellant, 2-3 stages (very
high acceleration)

2. Launch to Space

Solid, liquid or combination, 2-4 stages (24g), Possible: hybrid, 2-4 stages

3. Impulsive V in Space
Time critical maneuvers
Energy change from elliptic orbits,
plane change from elliptic orbits
Non-fuel limited situations

Small solid propellant (apogee kick, etc.)

Bi-propellant (storable), liquids,
monopropellant (storable) liquids. Future:
nuclear thermal

4. Low Thrust V in Space

Mass-limited missions
Non-time critical missions
Small, continuous orbit corrections,
near circular orbits

Solar-electric systems:
Arcjet (a bit faster, less Isp), Hall, Ion (slower,
higher Isp), PPT (precision maneuvers),
Nuclear-electric systems, direct solarthermal

ROCKET RESEARCH AT FLORIDA TECH

NUCLEAR THERMAL ROCKET PROPULSION

NTP improvement: 100-400 percent over best
conventional rocket motors
Large gain in V, Isp possible with NTP rockets
Operate for short time ~ 1-3 HRS to achieve desired V
Highly reduced mission times (12-14 months vs. 2-3
years to Mars)
Combination of temperature and low molecular weight:
Isp ~ 900 s (2 x SSME)

THERMAL GENERATION MECHANISM:

NUCLEAR FISSION
Various coolants may be used:
H2O, Ar, He, liquid metals, H2

U n 1 2 2.5n radiation
600,000 pounds of chemical fuel = 1 pound of nuclear fuel
Total Radiation Exposure Mission to Mars: NTP < Chemical Rocket

NTREES: NUCLEAR THERMAL ROCKET ENVIRONMENTAL

ELEMENT SIMULATOR AT NASA MSFC

Non-nuclear testing in hot H2 environment key to engine development

Design of experiment for NASA MSFC
Materials characterization/performance/stability in hot H 2 (up to 3,200 K)
Induction heating (non-nuclear), dual frequency pyrometers for Ts
Heat exchanger designed by Florida Tech students

Grooved Ring Fuel Element

OVERVIEW OF LSP/FLORIDA TECH PROJECTS

ULA / Florida Tech / Space Florida Centaur Tank Donation

Donation of 2 Centaur tanks from ULA to Florida Tech
Perform cryogenic propellant studies and test new concepts on actual flight hardware
Use data from facility for model benchmarking and validation

SPHERES: Florida Tech / MIT / NASA KSC LSP

SPHERES: Synchronized Position Hold Engage and Reorient Experimental Satellites
Developed extensive low-gravity liquid slosh data set
Use data from platform for model benchmarking and validation

XPC: External Payload Carrier

Potential Identified for suborbital heavy lift
Fills niche between sounding rockets and Delta II
Flies in SRB location on Atlas

CRYOTE: CRYogenic Orbital TEstbed

Orbiting laboratory for investigating cryo fluid management technologies in space

OVERVIEW: UPPER-STAGE MODELING

Lockheed Martin
Atlas V 401

Boeing Delta IV Heavy

http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/delta/delta4/d4h_demo/book04.html

OVERVIEW: WHAT CAN HAPPEN INSIDE TANKS?

LEO GEO coast for several hours

Engine Re-start at end of coast
Stage exposed to solar heating
Propellant T&P must be within narrow
range for engine operation
If outside range may not restart
Orbit cannot be circularized

Payload
LOX Tank

LH2 Tank

http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/delta/delta4/d4h_demo/book14.html
XSS-10 view of Delta II rocket: An Air Force Research Laboratory XSS-10 micro-satellite uses its onboard camera system to view the second stage of the
Boeing Delta II rocket during mission operations Jan. 30. (Photo courtesy of Boeing.), http://www.globalsecurity.org/space/systems/xss.htm

RESEARCH CHALLENGE
Analytical, computational, and experimental modeling of propellants
Make relevant predictions: launch versus no launch, allowable coast, etc.

LH2 Tank

LOX Tank

CENTAUR ROCKET STAGE AND RL-10 ENGINE

Centaur rocket stage designed for use as upper stage of space launch vehicles.
Centaur was world's first high-energy upper stage, burning LH2 and LOX
Approximate Dimensions: 10 ft diameter and 40 ft length

DONATION AND POTENTIAL TESTING

CFM Friends, I wanted to follow up regarding the concept of an MHTB follow on ground test using a Centaur tank.
The concept is to take a bare Centaur tank and outfit it to support long duration cryo storage. The benefit is for
NASA and ULA to gain insight into a long duration system holding both LH2 and LO2 (use LN2 in test) in a flight
weight tank. I believe that boil-off could be as low as 0.2 %/day (<100 lb/day) driven by the existing common
bulkhead. Utilizing Centaur allows very near term testing and comparison with numerous past orbital missions as
well as future missions that could be outfitted for enhanced data.

ULA has two Centaur tanks already built that are potential candidates:
1. Centaur III tank (Atlas V Centaur). We are currently using this tank to qualify our switch from fixed foam to
SOFI. The testing will be complete in June with no immediate follow on plans for the tank.
2. Centaur II tank (Atlas II Centaur) This is a damaged flight article that is no longer flight worthy but could be
repaired to support ground cryogenic testing.

NASA support the testing of:

Fluid routing

Vapor cooling (including para/ortho conversion)

Thermodynamic vent system

Adapters

Instrumentation

Densified propellant testing

Benefits:

Demonstrate low LH2/LO2 system boil-off

LO2 tank pressure control using H2 vapor cooling (no O2 venting)

Map heat leak with numerous thermal couples

Map internal liquid and gas flow field and stratification

Compare ground data with flight and MHTB data

Anchor analytic tools

Develop model validation capability for other upper-stages (Delta)

OPPORTUNITY AND NEXT STEPS

Opportunities:
Loan/Donation to Florida Tech, but all equipment located at KSC, CCAFS, or SF
Loan/Donation value ~ $4 M
Opportunity to help develop and lead world class test site and perform funded research
Provide new project to retain jobs

Next Steps:
ULA in contact with Senator Nelson office
Determine Space Florida level of interest and commitment
NASA KSC involvement
Department of Defense Involvement (?)
ULA to make commitment
Florida Tech commitment?
Business plan, marketing plan and use/fee cost structure
Donation and transportation logistics
Instrumentation plan for LN2, LH2
Logistics for pad 36? Other options?
36a as a R&D facility
36n as a launch facility
Examine possibility of RL-10 (and other engine) donations for hot fire
Not a competing entity to Stennis or Marshall

SLOSH DYNAMICS: MOTIVATION

Upper-stages of expendable vehicle fleet undergo

orbital maneuvers that may lead to large propellant
slosh motions

Slosh motion can affect vehicle performance

Example 1 : reorientation maneuver may cause
liquid propellant to exit through pressure relief
valves designated for gas venting leading to
uncontrollable dynamic instability
Example 2: cryogenic liquid may splash onto
hot sections of tank side walls and dome leading
to large boil-off of propellant
Example 3: NEAR spacecraft interrupted its
insertion burn when fuel reaction was larger
than anticipated. Prevented NEAR from
orbiting Eros and delayed mission
Example 4: Does Orion need baffles?

Models needed to predict impacts of propellant

slosh for various mission scenarios

Limited database to benchmark CFD codes in very

low-gravity (low-acceleration) environments

WHY A UNIVERSAL DATA SET IS NEEDED

The Boeing Delta IV Launch Vehicle Pulse-Settling Approach for Second-Stage

Hydrogen Propellant Management, Acta Astronautica Volume 61, June-August 2007

Delta IV launch postponed because of CFD!

Left: Original LH2 slosh analysis results (4 DOF model)
Middle: Independent results (6 DOF model, including lateral forces)
Right: Confirmation of input dynamics as source of analysis disagreement

So, two users get same result using same code, but do they replicate real life?
Lateral forces and moment profile are important to magnitude of slosh need 6-DOF

EXPERIMENTAL FRAMEWORK: GROUND EXPERIMENTS

Linear stage (free or belt-driven) with rotating tank cage

Stereo cameras (axial and transversal) attached to tanks frame
Tri-axial accelerometers (one gyro on tanks frame, sliding table)
Max. axial acceleration: +/- 3 g on 14 kg load
Cameras synchronized to analog DAQ system by common trigger
Analex NASA KSC Proprietary

66

EXPERIMENTAL FRAMEWORK: GROUND

EXPERIMENTS

Tank geometries
Cylinder
Spheres
Pill
Common bulk head tank
Analex NASA KSC Proprietary

67

EXPERIMENTAL FRAMEWORK: GROUND

EXPERIMENTS

Analex NASA KSC Proprietary

68

SLOSH EXPERIMENT - NASAS ZERO-GRAVITY AIRCRAFT

Typical flight profile

At 24,000 ft DC9 begins 8,000
ft climb at 1.8 gs
At 31,000 ft start Zero-G climb
Zero gravity conditions last 20
25 seconds
After weightlessness, DC9
cruises back down to 24,000 ft
Typically 40 parabolas per day:
800 1,000 seconds of test time
Over a 3 day test period: 60 80
minutes of test data

Analex NASA KSC Proprietary

69

FLIGHT EXPERIMENTS

Analex NASA KSC Proprietary

70

SAMPLE EXPERIMENT VS. CFD COMPARISON

At t=1.6s, wall adhesion can be detected by

raised ring on both high and low sides of tank

t=1.6s

At t=3.0s, levels and symmetric ripple formation

are in agreement between simulation and
experiment

t=3.0s

At t=9.0s, after some time damping solution is

still accurate and shows a dimple formation that
has a reflected wave captured in the center. This
double sided dimple is a recognizable feature in
both the experiment and simulation.

t=9.0s

Analex NASA KSC Proprietary

71

4L water tank without baffle

Time = 1.6s

4L water tank with baffle

SPHERES: OVERVIEW

SPHERES test bed is a risk mitigation tool,

providing a risk-tolerant medium for
development and maturation of formation flight
and docking algorithms
Operated inside International Space Station (ISS)
by United States astronauts
SPHERES test bed consists of three free-flyer
vehicles (commonly referred to as satellites or
spheres), five ultrasonic beacons, and a laptop
control station
Satellites are self-contained, with onboard power,
propulsion, communications, sensor, and
computer subsystems.
Goal: Leverage existing SPHERES platform
to conduct long-duration, zero-gravity fluid
and slosh studies to provide data for model
validation and benchmarking

OVERVIEW OF XPC CONCEPT

Potential Identified for Suborbital Heavy Lift

Flies in SRB Location
Anytime Excess Performance is Available
Remains Attached or can be Jettisoned
Unpressurized
Disposable or Reusable
Mimics Non-Propulsive SRB

XPC CONCEPT

Fills Niche Between Sounding Rockets and Delta II

75

XPC CONCEPT

Mimics Atlas V SRB

Ground Operations
Processing
Attachment (uses identical SRB hardware)
Flight Operations
Aerodynamically equivalent to SRB
Negligible impact to launch vehicle or primary
payload
Jettisonable along entire Stage 1 trajectory
Atlas V designed to carry expended SRB

76

CRYOTE OVERVIEW

CRYOTE (CRYogenic Orbital TEstbed) - an orbiting

laboratory that investigates cryo fluid management
(CFM) technologies in space

CRYOTE provides an unmatched opportunity to

advance in-space CFM technology understanding
Affordable auxiliary EELV payload that utilizes
residual LH2 from performance excess
Low Risk Launch with ambient tank/dormant
avionics

CRYOTE enables Critical Technology

Demonstrations for NASAs Exploration Directorate
Technologies listed in NASA Administrator Boldens
budget overview included in-orbit propellant
transfer and storage, exactly what CRYOTE
demonstrates
Cryogenic fluid management supports Earth
Departure Stage, Lunar Lander, Propellant Depots

CRYOTE
Orbiting laboratory that investigates cryo fluid management
(CFM) technologies in space
Credit: NASA

CRYOTE provides an unmatched opportunity to advance inspace CFM technology understanding

Affordable auxiliary EELV payload that utilizes residual
LH2 from performance excess
Low Risk Launch with ambient tank/dormant avionics
CRYOTE enables Critical Technology Demonstrations for
NASAs Exploration Directorate
Technologies listed in NASA Administrator Boldens budget
overview included in-orbit propellant transfer and
storage, exactly what CRYOTE demonstrates
Cryogenic fluid management supports Earth Departure
Stage, Lunar Lander, Propellant Depots

CRYOTE CFM TECHNOLOGIES

CFM technology demonstration/test includes:
Cryogenic system design tank, feed/vent systems, structural attachments
Thermal protection technologies MLI, sun shields
Cryogenic fluid transfer system chilldown, transfer coupling, pressure control
Thermodynamic vent system (TVS)
Technology mass gauging (micro-g)
Stratification detection and control
System cooling passive, active
Propellant management devices (PMDs)

NUMERICAL MODELING OF PHYSICS

g/g0 = 1

g/g0 = 0.1

g/g0 = 0.01

Buoyancy becomes less important of a transport phenomenon at low gravity

Conduction plays an increased role in energy transport at low gravity
Modeling of isogrid tank walls

6 DOF SOLID ROCKET MOTOR THRUST STAND

Motor

Single Axis
Sensors

Tri-Axial Force
Sensor

VERY SMALL ROCKET ENGINES

Why Go So Small?
T/W advantages
Scalability
Fine pointing
Fine orbital corrections
Constellation applications

Traditional Manufacturing vs. MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems)

Military Applications

1-10 N MICRO-THRUSTERS

ROCKETS

Mass production, silicon-carbide material

Launch and orbital applications, T~ 5-15 N, Isp ~ 300 sec
Higher T/W than Space Shuttle
Propellants JP7 (SR-71 fuel) and hydrogen peroxide (H 2O2)

MIT ROCKET PROJECT

Six Wafers
Eight Masks
Smallest feature ~ 10 m

10 cm

COOLING CHANNELS / HEAT EXCHANGER

Rocket has a complex
set of cooling channels, flow
paths, and coolant injection
options
Regions of highest heat load
are near throat
Multiple options on how to
distribute coolant mass flow, where to
use each propellant, and taking into
account temperature limit on H2O2

COOLING CHANNELS AND HEAT EXCHANGER

MODELING DOMAIN
Combustion Chamber
Heat Transfer Modeling Domains

CROSS-SECTIONAL DETAILS

CROSS-SECTIONAL DETAILS

TEST FIRE