Questions tagged [rl-10]
LOX/LH2 engine, used as on the upper stage on many US launchers.
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Why aren't Dual Engine Centaurs used anymore?
The last DEC flew in 2004 (excluding Starliner) on an Atlas II. Why aren't they used today for commercial payloads (again, barring Starliner)? I understand that DEC is more expensive than SEC as it ...
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Saturn 1 thrust mismatch
While reading about Saturn launch vehicle family, I read that Saturn 1 third stage used 2# RL 10 engines, producing a total thrust of 30K Pounds.
But each RL 10, individually produced approx 25K ...
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Why is ESA developing the Vinci engine rather than buying RL10Bs?
The Vinci engine seems very very similar to the RL10B. Both are hydrolox expander-cycle engines with 465 s Isp and extendible nozzles with a ~250:1 expansion ratio. The biggest difference is that the ...
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Why does the RL10 engine have a pipe sticking out of the side on the Centaur rocket?
The RL10 is a expander cycle engine so the pipe can’t be for a gas generator.
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Is there an upper stage main engine that is human ratable and may out perform the Common Extensible Cyrogenic Engine performance by Aerojet?
I am fasinated by Aerojet. The CECE, has a total qualified burn time of 10,000 seconds and with a total of 50 restarts. The LOX/LH2 engines have a great performance with a specific impulse of > 445.
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Do Orion's solar panels have adjustable sweep?
In this video overview of NASA's proposed EM-1 mission, the solar panels on the Orion spacecraft are initially shown extending perpendicular to the spacecraft (at around 3:46).
Shortly after that, as ...
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Function of the RL10 Oxygen Turbopump's Splined Shaft End
The oxygen turbopump in the RL10 upper stage engine has been openly discussed by NASA for some decades now, in publications like SP-8107. On page 8 of this document is a drawing of this turbopump. The ...
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Was the notion of using an air-started SSME on Ares-1 a reasonable idea?
For whatever reasons, it seems like the standard upper stage engine in the U.S. inventory is the RL-10. A high performance engine with nice specific impulse (Isp = 450-465 s), but very low thrust (25 ...
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Why does $I_\text{sp}$ on an upper stage matter so dramatically?
When you compare the upper stage of an Atlas 5/Delta 4, which use an RL-10 upper stage engine vs a Falcon 9 upper stage that uses a Merlin 1D Vac version, you see really big performance differences.
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