The propellants are partially combusted in dual preburners to produce high-pressure hot gas to drive the turbopumps.Ĭombustion is completed in the main combustion chamber. The main engines develop thrust by using high-energy propellants in a staged combustion cycle. Their turbines spin almost 13 times as fast as an automobile engine spins when it is running at highway speed. As they push the Shuttle toward orbit, the engines consume liquid fuel at a rate that would drain an average family swimming pool in under 25 seconds generating over 37 million horsepower. The engines' exhaust is primarily water vapor as the hydrogen and oxygen combine. The main engines burn liquid hydrogen - the second coldest liquid on Earth at minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 252.8 degrees Celsius) - and liquid oxygen. They create a combined maximum thrust of more than 1.2 million pounds.Īs the Shuttle accelerates, the main engines burn a half-million gallons of liquid propellant provided by the large, orange external fuel tank. Photo credit: NASAĪfter the solid rockets are jettisoned, the main engines provide thrust which accelerates the Shuttle from 4,828 kilometers per hour (3,000 mph) to over 27,358 kilometers per hour (17,000 mph) in just six minutes to reach orbit. Click image to play video of engines firing on launch (no audio). Image left: The Space Shuttle Main Engines provide part of the thrust that sends the Shuttle into orbit. The main engines continue to operate for 8.5 minutes after launch, the duration of the Shuttle's powered flight. "Dress rehearsal" of Apollo 11 landing.The three Space Shuttle Main Engines, in conjunction with the Solid Rocket Boosters, provide the thrust to lift the Orbiter off the ground for the initial ascent. Rocket crashed near pad after 1st stage engine failure.įirst test of lunar module in lunar orbit. Įngine failure in the first stage, rocket crashed 15 km from the pad.įirst crewed orbital test of lunar module Capsule was successfully recovered after successful launch abort.Īpogee was too high as the Agena rocket stage failed to switch off at a correct time. One of the RD-0210 engines in the second stage failed, resulting in automatic shutdown of the vehicle. Lander operated for 51 minutes in the atmosphere of Venus.įirst docking between two crewed spacecraft (with Soyuz 5)įirst docking between two crewed spacecraft (with Soyuz 4) Lander operated for 53 minutes in the atmosphere of Venus. The Soviets, however, suffered severe blows to their crewed Lunar aspirations when their N1 rocket failed twice during two 1969 launches. In 1969, the Soviet Union's space program had success with the docking of two crewed spacecraft as well as the success of their Venus and Lunar probes. The success of the Apollo program was a testament to the efforts of over 500,000 American engineers, scientists and technicians. There were four Apollo missions in total in 1969, three of which traveled to the Moon, with Apollo 12 also landing on the surface. Kennedy's 1962 challenge of, that "this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth." Days later the crew of three returned safely to Earth, satisfying U.S. On 20 July 1969, the Apollo 11 Lunar Module, Eagle, landed on the Moon's surface with two astronauts aboard. 1969 saw humanity step onto another world for the first time.
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