Conference 7.286::space

396.0. "Space Shuttle Propulsion" by NWD002::GILLESPE () Wed Feb 03 1988 16:08

    The following is a list of "Propulsion Trivia" I obtained during
    a recent visit to Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama.
    
    PROPULSION TRIVIA
    
    The Space Shulttle Main Engine operates at greater temperature extremes
    than any mechanical system in common use today. The fuel, liquified
    hydrogen at-423 degrees F, is the second coldest liquid on Earth.
    When it and the liquid oxygen are combusted, the temperature in
    the main combustion chamber is 6,000 degrees F, higher than the
    boiling point of iron.
    
    The energy released by the three Space Shuttle Main Engines at full
    power level, in units of watts, is equivalent to the output of 23
    Hoover Dams.
    
    The Space Shuttle Main Engine fuel turbo pump weighs the same as
    the V-8 engine of a modern automobile, but develops 310 times the
    brake horsepower and develops as much torque as 18 V-8 automobile
    engines.
    
    One Space Shuttle Main Engine generates sufficient thrust to maintain
    the flight of two and one-half 747s.
    
    The combined volume of the External Tank's liquid Hydrogen and liquid
    oxygen tanks is 73,600 cubic feet. That is equal to the volume of
    nearly six 1,600 square foot houses.
    
    If all the weld joints in the External Tank were laid in a straight
    line, they would stretch more than a half mile.
    
    The External Tank is covered with a thermal protection system
    (insulation) which if spread on the ground would cover nearly one-half
    acre.
    
    The two Solid Rocket Boosters generate a combined thrust of 5.3
    million pounds, equivalent to 44 million horsepower or 14,700 six-axle
    diesel locomotives or 400,000 subcompact cars.
    
    At liftoff, the two Solid Rocket Boosters consume 11,000 pounds
    of fuel per second. That's two million times the rate at which fuel
    is burned by the average family car.
    
    At 149 feet, 1.6 inches tall, the Solid Rocket Booster is only two
    feet shorter than the Statue of Liberty. But, each 700-ton Solid
    Rocket Booster weighs more than three times as much as the famous
    statue.