NASA has successfully tested the world's most powerful solid fuel accelerator

    Such an engine will launch a man to Mars



    Video from NASA's official account

    At the beginning of the month it became known that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States will test the solid propellant accelerator of the future Space Launch System (SLS), an ultra-heavy space launch system. Media representatives were invited to a two-minute test run, and the test was shown on NASA channels.


    This video has lower quality, but it is twice as long. You can see the end of the test and the subsequent pouring of the accelerator internals with carbon dioxide to completely stop the combustion process.

    The accelerator test, which NASA calls the most powerful ever built, was successful. The project was not developed from scratch: it's still the same accelerator as the shuttles. Space shuttles were launched using two such accelerators. SLS also has two of them, but they will not be four-, but five-segment. This difference is also not entirely new: before the Columbia tragedy in 2003, an additional segment was considered for launching shuttles, with it it would be possible to get rid of some unsafe scenarios for the emergency return of the spacecraft and put 9.1 tons more cargo into orbit on the ISS. The novelty has its drawbacks: with the addition of a new segment, it becomes more difficult to control the thrust vector.

    March 11, the accelerator, fixed in a facility in the desert of Utah, underwent a static test. The fuel burned for two minutes, the same amount of accelerator will work in a real rocket. During operation, a thrust of about 16 meganewtons was generated, a temperature of 3100 ° C developed inside - enough to make iron boil. Data on the implementation of 102 different parameters was recorded by 531 devices. As a result, it was found that the accelerator meets the flight requirements set for it, including the developed thrust and pressure.

    This is the first of two tests that are necessary so that the accelerator can be used in SLS. The second will take place in early 2016. Unlike yesterday’s test, in which the accelerator was gradually warmed up to ≈32 ° C over several weeks, the second one will be carried out at ≈4 ° C. Then, the data on these extreme points of the temperature range allowed for operation will be compared to obtain an accurate model of accelerators. The importance of research is dictated by the features of the operation of solid fuel engines - after starting them it is impossible to stop, it is impossible to change the level of intensity of fuel combustion.

    Interestingly, yesterday’s test was also filled with history. The accelerator under test was assembled from several parts, for example, the skirt was from the first launch of the shuttle, and the head fairing was from the last.


    Planned configurations of the Space Launch System super-heavy launch vehicle with a mass of low-Earth orbit loading cargo from 70 to 130 tons

    Two such solid-fuel boosters will develop more than 75% of the thrust necessary for the payload of the SLS rocket to escape from the gravitational well of our planet . In addition to them in the first stage there are 4 the RS-25D / E . The work of these devices has also already been worked out - these are the main engines of the shuttles. On each of the shuttles stood three such engines. The second stage uses engines of the RL10 family , known for Delta IV.

    SLS is a promising launch system, which is being developed for a variety of ambitious projects: a man’s landing on the surface of Mars, flights to an asteroid and its transportation. Of course, SLS will be able to deliver commercial satellites, modules of a space station or its crew members. The project involves more than 500 companies throughout the United States. The first launch of the SLS will take place in a 70-ton configuration with an Orion ship without a crew. The probable date is 2018 or later.

    Also popular now: