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Low Cost Propulsion Technology Testing at the Stennis Space Center: Propulsion Test Article and the Horizontal Test FacilityThe need for low cost access to space has initiated the development of low cost liquid rocket engine and propulsion system hardware at the Marshall Space Flight Center. This hardware will be tested at the Stennis Space Center's B-2 test stand. This stand has been reactivated for the testing of the Marshall designed Fastrac engine and the Propulsion Test Article. The RP-1 and LOX engine is a turbopump fed gas generator rocket with an ablative nozzle which has a thrust of 60,000 lbf. The Propulsion Test Article (PTA) is a test bed for low cost propulsion system hardware including a composite RP-I tank, flight feedlines and pressurization system, stacked in a booster configuration. The PTA is located near the center line of the B-2 test stand, firing vertically into the water cooled flame deflector. A new second position on the B-2 test stand has been designed and built for the horizontal testing of the Fastrac engine in direct support of the X-34 launch vehicle. The design and integration of these test facilities as well as the coordination which was required between the two Centers is described and lessons learned are provided. The construction of the horizontal test position is discussed in detail. The activation of these facilities is examined and the major test milestones are described.
Document ID
19990004159
Acquisition Source
Marshall Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Fisher, Mark F.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL United States)
King, Richard F.
(NASA Stennis Space Center Stennis Space Center, MS, United States)
Chenevert, Donald J.
(NASA Stennis Space Center Stennis Space Center, MS, United States)
Date Acquired
August 19, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1998
Subject Category
Spacecraft Propulsion And Power
Report/Patent Number
AIAA Paper 98-3367
Report Number: AIAA Paper 98-3367
Meeting Information
Meeting: Propulsion
Location: Cleveland, OH
Country: United States
Start Date: July 13, 1998
End Date: July 15, 1998
Sponsors: American Society of Mechanical Engineers, American Inst. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, American Society for Electrical Engineers, Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc.
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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