New answers tagged liquid-fuel
4
For most rocket engines the fuel is used as nozzle and chamber coolant, which heats it up. It may enter the combustion chamber as gas or liquid, depending on design. But the LOX is merely pumped to the engine, and enters at storage temperature of 90K, and very much a liquid.
Example: the Space Shuttle SSME:
This LOX is sprayed using various techniques to ...
2
Just build for the structural needs of your Mars vehicle, the atmosphere there is thin enough that none of the standard Vacuum nozzles will be overexpanded, and for a rocket operating at the surface, the mechanical size limits will be much more stringent.
If anyone want to provide a more comprehensive answer, please do so.
The true answer is a ridiculously ...
42
The squat end of the spectrum has little to do with solids versus liquids and everything to do with aerodynamics. Spherical tankage is most weight-efficient, so you'd expect squat stages in cases where aerodynamics don't dominate such as your Mars Ascent Vehicle (flying where atmospheric drag is on the order of 1% what it is for Earth ascent) or the Apollo ...
7
There was a large difference in their size, and at the time, they were developed by two entirely different companies.
In general, the propellant combination of a rocket engine does not determine its thrust, just as an internal combustion engine running on diesel fuel may power anything from a lawnmower to a tractor-trailer truck.
The LR87 was developed by ...
1
I think you've mistaken why NTO and N2H4 are used. That is because they are stable at room temperature and easy to store.
While you could plausibly improve the energetics of the system with LOX, you have the problem that it's going to boil off over time. If you're in a position to handle cryogenics, you wouldn't use NTO etc anyway.
If you need storable, ...
Top 50 recent answers are included
