NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
RS-25 for the NASA Crew Launch Vehicle: The Evolution of SSME for Space ExplorationAs a first step towards the fulfillment of the National Vision for Space Exploration, NASA has begun development of the Crew Launch Vehicle (CLV). The CLV will act, in conjunction with the Crew Exploration Vehicle, as the next generation human launch system to first support missions to the International Space Station (ISS), then later to support the lunar return missions, and then after that to exploration missions to Mars and beyond. The CLV is a two-stage launch vehicle with the first stage based upon the Space Shuttle solid rocket booster. The newly designed, expendable second stage is powered by a single RS-25 liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen rocket engine. The RS-25 is essentially the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) evolved for a new mission, new environments, and new conditions. The CLV Upper-Stage Engine (USE) office has been established to develop the RS-25 in support of the CLV Project. This paper presents an outline and discussion of the risks associated with this endeavor of transforming the SSME into the upper-stage, altitude-start RS-25 and the plans being undertaken to understand and mitigate these risks. In addition, to meet the long-term requirements of the CLV launch manifest, it will be necessary to redevelop the RS-25, with its long history as the reusable SSME for the Space Shuttle Program, as an expendable engine. While the first flights of CLV will be using heritage SSME hardware, beyond that a new version of RS-25 as an expendable engine is being pursued by the CLV USE element. The goals of this work include the need to make the hardware more producible while maintaining the inherent and inherited reliability of the basic design. This paper will also discuss the risks and present the plans for developing both this next generation version of the RS-25 and for developing the manufacturing capacity necessary to support the CLV Project.
Document ID
20060048242
Acquisition Source
Marshall Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Kynard, Michael H.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Genge, Gary G.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Greene, William D.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Jacobs, William
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
McArthur, J. Craig
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Mims, Michael J.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Tepool, J. Eric
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Wofford, Steven J.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Date Acquired
August 23, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2006
Subject Category
Launch Vehicles And Launch Operations
Meeting Information
Meeting: 42nd AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit
Location: Sacramento, CA
Country: United States
Start Date: July 9, 2006
End Date: July 12, 2006
Sponsors: American Society of Mechanical Engineers, American Society for Electrical Engineers, Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc., American Inst. of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available