[AR] staged combustion (was Re: Re: SpaceX F9 ...)
- From: Henry Spencer <hspencer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: Arocket List <arocket@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 29 Dec 2015 22:57:07 -0500 (EST)
On Tue, 29 Dec 2015, Ed Kelleher wrote:
H&H Design of Liquid Propellant Rocket Engines (the AIAA doc, not SP125),
Sect 2.4, pp 37
"However, relative to the other two cycles, the staged combustion cycle has
the highest performance, but it is more complex, more difficult to develop,
and heavier."
One should remember that H&H -- both editions -- is essentially the
Rocketdyne view of the world. The SSME did come out complex and heavy,
and did give Rocketdyne a lot of trouble. That doesn't make those
characteristics universal truths, however.
(At the time of the SSME competition, Pratt & Whitney had done much more
work with staged combustion, and had the technology under much better
control. Even Aerojet had done more SC experimental work than Rocketdyne.
So Rocketdyne got the contract...)
Henry
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