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Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at http://www.com and the CRC Press Web site at http://www.com Dedication To all those rocket scientists and engineers throughout history who have successfully designed the vehicles and technologies for spacecraft missions that fuel mankind’s sense of wonder and dreams of space and to all those that will in the future, I dedicate this work. Contents About the Author. What Are Rockets?.1 The History of Rockets.15 Other Space Agencies.2 Rockets of the Modern Era.1 ESA and CNES.2 Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO—India).3 Iranian Space Agency (ISA—Iran).4 Israeli Space Agency.5 Japan Aerospace eXploration Agency (JAXA—Japan).6 China National Space Administration (CNSA— People’s Republic of China).7 Russian Federal Space Agency (FSA, also known as RKA in Russian—Russia/Ukraine).8 United States of America: NASA and the U.9 Other Systems Are on the Way.10 The NASA Constellation Program.3 Rocket Anatomy and Nomenclature.42 vii viii Contents 2.
Why Are Rockets Needed?.1 Missions and Payloads.2 Fundamental Equations for Trajectory Analysis.3 Missing the Earth.2: The Dong Feng 31 ICBM.1 Newton’s Universal Law of Gravitation.3: Acceleration Due to Gravity on a Telecommunications Satellite.4 The Circle Is a Special Case of an Ellipse.5 The Ellipse Is Actually a Conic Section.7 Newton’s Vis Viva Equation.4 Orbit Changes and Maneuvers.1 In-Plane Orbit Changes.4: The Hohmann Transfer Orbit.3 The Bielliptical Transfer.6 The Gravitational Assist.5 Ballistic Missile Trajectories.1 Ballistic Missile Trajectories Are Conic Sections. How Do Rockets Work?.1: Isp of the Space Shuttle Main Engines.3 Weight Flow Rate.4 Tsiolkovsky’s Rocket Equation.2: The Two-Stage Rocket.6 Rocket Dynamics, Guidance, and Control.3: Drag Force on the Space Shuttle.3 Rocket Stability and the Restoring Force.4 Rocket Attitude Control Systems.5 8 Degrees of Freedom. How Do Rocket Engines Work?.1 The Basic Rocket Engine.2 Thermodynamic Expansion and the Rocket Nozzle.4 Rocket Engine Area Ratio and Lengths.1 Nozzle Area Expansion Ratio.3 The Properly Designed Nozzle.4 Expansion Chamber Dimensions.5 Rocket Engine Design Example. Are All Rockets the Same?.1 Solid Rocket Engines.1 Basic Solid Motor Components.2 Solid Propellant Composition.3 Solid Propellant Grain Configurations.1: Burn Rate of the Space Shuttle SRBs.2 Liquid Propellant Rocket Engines.3 Cooling the Engine.4 A Real World Perspective: The SSME Ignition Sequence.3 Hybrid Rocket Engines.4 Electric Rocket Engines.2: The Deep Space Probe’s NSTAR Ion Engine.3: The Pulsed Plasma Thruster (PPT) Engine.6 Solar Electric Propulsion.7 Nuclear Electric Propulsion.5 Nuclear Rocket Engines.6 Solar Rocket Engines.4: The Solar Thermal Collector.5: The STR Exit Velocity, Isp, and Thrust.7 Photon-Based Engines.
How Do We Test Rockets?.1 The Systems Engineering Process and Rocket Development.1 Systems Engineering Models.2 Technology, Integrated, and Systems Readiness.1 Deflection-Type Thrustometers.2 Hydraulic Load Cells.3 Strain Gauge Load Cells.3 Pressure Vessel Tests.4 Shake ’n Bake Tests.5 Drop and Landing Tests.8 Modeling and Simulation.9 Roll-Out Test.2 Flight Testing Is Complicated. Are We Thinking Like Rocket Scientists and Engineers?.4 Tornadoes and Overpasses.5 Flying Foam Debris.7 The Space Mission Analysis and Design Process.8 Back to the Moon. 294 Suggested Reading for Rocket Scientists and Engineers. 299 About the Author Travis S.
Taylor (“Doc” Taylor to his friends) has earned his sou- briquet the hard way: He has a doctorate in Optical Science and Engineering, a master’s degree in Physics, and a master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, all from the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Added to this is a master’s degree in Astronomy from the University of Western Sydney (Australia) and a bach- elor’s degree in Electrical Engi neeri ng from Auburn University (Alabama). Taylor has work ed on various programs for the Department of Defense and NASA for the past two decades. He is currently work- ing on several advanced propul- sion concepts, very large space telescopes, space-based beamed energy systems, and next generation space launch concepts, and has direct- ed energy weapons for the U.
Army Space and Missile Defense Command. Taylor was one of the principal investigators of the Ares I Flight Test Plann ing effort for NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. In his copious spare time, Doc Travis is also a black belt martial artist, a private pilot, a SCUBA diver, and races mountain bikes. He has also com- peted in triathlons, is a marathon runner, and has been the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of several hard rock bands.
He has written over a dozen sci- ence fiction novels, two textbooks (including this one), and over dozen tech- nical papers. He currently lives with his wife, Karen; daughter, Kalista Jade; two dogs, Stevie and Wesker; and his cat, Kuro, in Harvest, Alabama, which is just outside of Huntsville in view of the Saturn V rocket that is erected at the space flight center. xi Preface This book was written as an introduction to the history and basics of rocket theory, design, experimentation, test, and applications. It was penned with the hopes that it would be an introductory overall view of the vast spectrum of knowledge the practicing rocket scientist or engineer must have to be successful.
The knowledge covers areas from advanced mathematics, chemistry, and physics to logistics, systems engineering, and, yes, even politics. The great successful rocket scientists of history like Wernher von Braun, Robert Goddard, and Sergei Korolev understood what it truly meant to be rocket scientists from all aspects of the term. When most people think of rocket scientists they think of the stereotypi- cal nerd with horn-rimmed glasses and pocket protector. Sure, there are rocket scientists that fit that description, but the new generation of rocket scientists are probably too young to recall von Braun and Walt Disney presenting concepts to the world through motion picture and television media with the polish that only a Disney production can produce.
In those films, von Braun was far from stereotypical. The rocket scientist must be versatile indeed. The material herein was compiled and written with the undergraduate student in mind. However, it is applicable and essential for any military or civilian space operator, manager, or designer who wants to achieve a better understanding of how rockets are designed and how they operate.
The book was also written to be a good introduction and, hopefully, to spark excite- ment about the field and encourage those wishing to develop a more detailed and advanced understanding and study of the topic. By all means, go on to graduate school or farther and become a true “rocket scientist.” xiii 1 What Are Rockets? The twentieth and twenty-first centuries brought forth the development of rockets that have enabled mankind to escape the bonds of planet Earth and go into the great “final frontier” that has mystified mankind since the first human looked up at the sky. Rockets have become commonplace in our every- day vernacular and culture to the extent that they are accepted technologies. What the general “nonscientist” or “nonengineer” tend to misunderstand is how complicated and technically involved rockets actually are.
The basic principles of rocket science might be easily explained to primary school-aged students, but the devil is in the details indeed. It is often stated as a major achievement of mankind that the Space Shuttle has something on the order of two million parts. The workings and func- tions of each of these parts are beyond the scope of this book, of course, but the understanding for the need of so many parts is something that will try to be emphasized herein. Rocket science and engineering is not a simple subject by any means, otherwise the old joke about “it ain’t rocket science” wouldn’t be as funny as it is.
Therefore, this chapter will discuss a bit about how rockets were discov- ered and developed over mankind’s history. The basic principles governing rockets and rocket science will also be discussed.1 The History of Rockets 1.1 400 BCE One of the earliest mentions of anything rocket-like in history appears to be from the writings of Aulus Gellius, a Roman. Gellius writes about a Greek individual named Archytas who is from the city of Tarentum, a part of what is now known as Southern Italy. In this story by Gellius, the character Archytas uses a wooden pigeon suspended by wires and propelled by steam to amaze and mystify the Tarentum locals.
This is related to the history of rockets for the simple fact that it is the earliest known mention of man using Newton’s Third Law of action and reaction for a means of propulsion. It is especially interesting in that Newton’s laws would not be developed for about 20 more centuries to come. 1 2 Introduction to Rocket Science and Engineering 1.2 100 to 0 BCE Sometime in the first century BCE, the Greek inventor Hero of Alexandria (70 to 10 BCE) is noted to have invented the device known as the aeolipile. The aeolipile was a steam-driven device that, like Archytas’s pigeon, also implemented Newton’s Third Law of action and reaction.1 shows an artist’s rendition of the aeolipile.
It should also be noted here that the device is sometimes described as Hero’s Engine. The engine consisted of a fire to heat a reservoir of water, which was converted to steam. The steam then rose through tubes to a sphere, which collected the steam and became a pressure vessel as more and more steam Figure 1.1 Hero of Alexandria’s aeolipile demonstrates Newton’s Third Law of action and reaction, which is the driving physical principle behind modern rocketry. What Are Rockets? 3 became compressed into it.
The sphere was suspended such that it could freely spin about a horizontal axis. On opposite sides of the sphere, orthogo- nal to the spin axis, were two small outlets for the steam. As the pressur- ized steam forced its way out of the pressure vessel and through the outlet “nozzles,” the force of the steam caused the sphere to rotate about the spin axis. In actuality, Hero’s Engine contains most parts of a simple thermal rocket engine.
It is thought that the Chinese were also developing rockets in the form of fireworks sometime during this first century BCE. It is somewhat unclear as to the actual date when the first true rockets appeared, but it is certain that stories of rocket-like devices appear sporadically throughout this period in time.