Great Inventions --Great Inventors

Rocket Engines -- Spacecraft

propulsion
A remote camera captures a close-up view of a Space Shuttle Main Engine during a test
firing at the John C. Stennis Space Center in Hancock County Mississippi
Spacecraft propulsion is used to change the velocity of spacecraft and artificial
satellites or in short to provide delta-v. !here are many different methods. Each
method has draw"acks and advantages and spacecraft propulsion is an active area of
research. Most spacecraft today are propelled "y heating the reaction mass and
allowing it to flow out the "ack of the vehicle. !his sort of engine is called a rocket
engine.
All current spacecraft use chemical rocket engines #"ipropellant or solid-fuel$ for
launch though some #such as the %egasus rocket and SpaceShip&ne$ have used air-
"reathing engines on their first stage. Most satellites have simple relia"le chemical
rockets #often monopropellant rockets$ or resisto'et rockets to keep their station
although some use momentum wheels for attitude control. (ewer geo-or"iting
spacecraft are starting to use electric propulsion for north-south stationkeeping.
)nterplanetary vehicles mostly use chemical rockets as well although a few have
e*perimentally used ion thrusters with some success #a form of electric propulsion$.
The necessity for propulsion systems
Artificial satellites must "e launched into or"it and once there they must accelerate to
circulari+e their or"it. &nce in the desired or"it they often need some form of attitude
control so that they are correctly pointed with respect to the Earth the Sun and
possi"ly some astronomical o"'ect of interest. !hey are also su"'ect to drag from the
thin atmosphere so that to stay in or"it for a long period of time some form of
propulsion is occasionally necessary to make small corrections #or"ital stationkeeping$.
Many satellites need to "e moved from one or"it to another from time to time and this
also re,uires propulsion. -hen a satellite has e*hausted its a"ility to ad'ust its or"it its
useful life is over.
Spacecraft designed to travel further also need propulsion methods. !hey need to "e
launched out of the Earth.s atmosphere 'ust as do satellites. &nce there they need to
leave or"it and move around.
/or interplanetary travel a spacecraft must use its engines to leave Earth or"it. &nce it
has done so it must somehow make its way to its destination. Current interplanetary
spacecraft do this with a series of short-term or"ital ad'ustments. )n "etween these
ad'ustments the spacecraft simply falls freely along its or"it. !he simplest fuel-
efficient means to move from one circular or"it to another is with a Hohmann transfer
or"it0 the spacecraft "egins in a roughly circular or"it around the Sun. A short period of
thrust in the direction of motion accelerates or decelerates the spacecraft into an
elliptical or"it around the Sun which is tangential to its previous or"it and also to the
or"it of its destination. !he spacecraft falls freely along this elliptical or"it until it
reaches its destination where another short period of thrust accelerates or decelerates it
to match the or"it of its destination. Special methods such as aero"raking are
sometimes used for this final or"ital ad'ustment.
Artist.s conception of a solar sail
Some spacecraft propulsion methods such as solar sails provide very low "ut
ine*hausti"le thrust1 an interplanetary vehicle using one of these methods would follow
a rather different tra'ectory either constantly thrusting against its direction of motion in
order to decrease its distance from the Sun or constantly thrusting along its direction of
motion to increase its distance from the Sun.
Spacecraft for interstellar travel also need propulsion methods. (o such spacecraft has
yet "een "uilt "ut many designs have "een discussed. Since interstellar distances are
very great a tremendous velocity is needed to get a spacecraft to its destination in a
reasona"le amount of time. Ac,uiring such a velocity on launch and getting rid of it on
arrival will "e a formida"le challenge for spacecraft designers.
Effectiveness of propulsion systems
-hen in space the purpose of a propulsion system is to change the velocity v of a
spacecraft. Since this is more difficult for more massive spacecraft designers generally
discuss momentum mv. !he amount of change in momentum is called impulse. So the
goal of a propulsion method in space is to create an impulse.
-hen launching a spacecraft from the Earth a propulsion method must overcome the
Earth.s gravitational pull in addition to providing acceleration.
!he rate of change of velocity is called acceleration and the rate of change of
momentum is called force. !o reach a given velocity one can apply a small
acceleration over a long period of time or one can apply a large acceleration over a
short time. Similarly one can achieve a given impulse with a large force over a short
time or a small force over a long time. !his means that for maneuvering in space a
propulsion method that produces tiny accelerations "ut runs for a long time can
produce the same impulse as a propulsion method that produces large accelerations for
a short time. -hen launching from a planet tiny accelerations cannot overcome the
planet.s gravitational pull and so cannot "e used.
!he law of conservation of momentum means that in order for a propulsion method to
change the momentum of a space craft it must change the momentum of something else
as well. A few designs take advantage of things like magnetic fields or light pressure in
order to change the spacecraft.s momentum "ut in free space the rocket must "ring
along some mass to accelerate away in order to push itself forward. Such mass is called
reaction mass.
An ion engine test
)n order for a rocket to work it needs two things0 reaction mass and energy. !he
impulse provided "y launching a particle of reaction mass having mass m at velocity v
is mv. 2ut this particle has kinetic energy mv
3
43 which must come from somewhere. )n
a conventional solid fuel rocket the fuel is "urned providing the energy and the
reaction products are allowed to flow out the "ack providing the reaction mass. )n an
ion thruster electricity is used to accelerate ions out the "ack. Here some other source
must provide the electrical energy #perhaps a solar panel or a nuclear reactor$ while the
ions provide the reaction mass.
-hen discussing the efficiency of a propulsion system designers often focus on the
reaction mass. After all energy can in principle "e produced without much difficulty
"ut the reaction mass must "e carried along with the rocket and irretrieva"ly consumed
when used. A way of measuring the amount of impulse that can "e o"tained from a
fi*ed amount of reaction mass is the specific impulse. !his is the impulse per unit mass
in newton seconds per kilogram #(5s4kg$. !his corresponds to metres per second #m4s$
and is the effective e*haust velocity v
e
.
A rocket with a high e*haust velocity can achieve the same impulse with less reaction
mass. However the kinetic energy is proportional to the s,uare of the e*haust velocity
so that more efficient engines #in the sense of having a large specific impulse$ re,uire
more energy to run.
A second pro"lem is that if the engine is to provide a large amount of thrust that is a
large amount of impulse per second it must also provide a large amount of energy per
second. So highly efficient engines re,uire enormous amounts of energy per second to
produce high thrusts. As a result most high-efficiency engine designs also provide very
low thrust.
Calculations
2urning the entire usa"le propellant of a spacecraft through the engines in a straight
line would produce a net velocity change to the vehicle- this num"er is termed .delta-v..
!he total 6v of a vehicle can "e calculated using the rocket e,uation where M is the
mass of fuel % is the mass of the payload #including the rocket structure$ and I
sp
is the
specific impulse of the rocket. !his is known as the !siolkovsky rocket e,uation0
/or a long voyage the ma'ority of the spacecraft.s mass may "e reaction mass. Since a
rocket must carry all its reaction mass with it most of the first reaction mass goes
towards accelerating reaction mass rather than payload. )f we have a payload of mass
P the spacecraft needs to change its velocity "y 6v and the rocket engine has e*haust
velocity v
e
then the mass M of reaction mass which is needed can "e calculated using
the rocket e,uation and the formula for I
sp
/or 6v much smaller than v
e
this e,uation is roughly linear and little reaction mass is
needed. )f 6v is compara"le to v
e
then there needs to "e a"out twice as much fuel as
com"ined payload and structure #which includes engines fuel tanks and so on$.
2eyond this the growth is e*ponential1 speeds much higher than the e*haust velocity
re,uire very high ratios of fuel mass to payload and structural mass.
)n order to achieve this some amount of energy must go into accelerating the reaction
mass. Every engine will waste some energy "ut even assuming 7889 efficiency the
engine will need energy amounting to
!his formula reflects the fact that even with 7889 engine efficiency certainly not all
energy supplied ends up in the vehicle - some of it indeed usually most of it ends up
as kinetic energy of the e*haust.
/or a mission for e*ample when launching from or landing on a planet the effects of
gravitational attraction and any atmospheric drag must "e overcome "y using fuel. )t is
typical to com"ine the effects of these and other effects into an effective mission delta-
v. /or e*ample a launch mission to low Earth or"it re,uires a"out :.;-78 km4s delta-v.
!hese mission delta-vs are typically numerically integrated on a computer.
Suppose we want to send a 78888 kg space pro"e to Mars. !he re,uired 6v from <E&
is appro*imately ;888 m4s using a Hohmann transfer or"it. #A manned pro"e would
need to take a faster route and use more fuel$. /or the sake of argument let us say that
the following thrusters may "e used0
Engine
Specific impulse
#(5s4kg or m4s$
Specific impulse
#s$
/uel mass
#kg$
Energy re,uired
#=J$
Solid rocket 7888 788 7:8888 :>
2ipropellant rocket >888 >88 ?388 78;
)on thruster >8888 >888 @38 AA>
BAS)MC ;88888 ;8888 788 D>88
&"serve that the more fuel-efficient engines can use far less fuel1 its mass is almost
negligi"le #relative to the mass of the payload and the engine itself$ for some of the
engines. However note also that these re,uire a large total amount of energy. At one
gravity the total acceleration takes a"out ;88 s or a"out five minutes. So for it to "e
possi"le for one of the high-efficiency engines to generate a gravity of thrust they
would have to "e supplied with 3.> or 7> =- of power - e,uivalent to a ma'or
metropolitan generating station. !his would need to "e included in the 78888 kg of
payload and structural weight which is clearly impractical.
)nstead a much smaller less powerful generator may "e included which will take much
longer to generate the total energy needed. !his lower power is only sufficient to
accelerate a tiny amount of fuel per second "ut over long periods the velocity will "e
finally achieved. /or e*ample. it took the Smart 7 more than a year to reach the Moon
while with a chemical rocket it takes a few days. !he or"it is not a Hohmann transfer
or"it. !he launched mass is often lower which can lower cost.
)nterestingly for a mission delta-v there is a fi*ed I
sp
that minimises the overall energy
used "y the rocket. !his comes to an e*haust velocity of a"out 34; of the delta-v #see
also the energy computed from the rocket e,uation$. Erives such as BAS)MC and to a
lesser e*tent other )on thrusters have e*haust velocities that can "e enormously higher
than this ideal and thus end up powersource limited and give very low thrust. )f the
vehicle performance is limited "y availa"le power e.g. if solar power is used then in
the case of a large v
e
the possi"le acceleration is inversely proportional to it hence the
time to reach a re,uired delta-v is proportional to v
e
. !hus the latter should not "e too
large..
Propulsion methods
%ropulsion methods can "e classified "ased on their means of accelerating the reaction
mass. !here are also some special methods for launches planetary arrivals and
landings.
Rockets
A FcoldF #un-ignited$ rocket engine test at (ASA
A rocket engine accelerates its reaction mass "y heating it producing hot high-pressure
gas or plasma. !he reaction mass is then allowed to escape from the rear of the vehicle
"y passing through a no++le which dramatically accelerates the reaction mass
converting thermal energy into kinetic energy. )t is this no++le which gives a rocket
engine its characteristic shape.
Hot fluid is re,uired "ecause it ma*imises the speed at the throat of the no++le. !he
e*pansion part of the rocket no++le then accelerates "y a further factor typically
"etween 7.> and D times. !he speed ratio of a rocket no++le is mostly determined "y it.s
area e*pansion ratio- this is the ratio of the area of the throat to the area at the e*it. !he
larger this is the more heat energy the no++le is a"le to e*tract from the com"ustion
gases and the faster colder and lower pressure the e*haust "ecomes. However larger
no++les are heavier.
A significant complication arises when launching a vehicle from the Earth.s surface as
the am"ient atmospheric pressure changes with altitude. /or ma*imum performance it
turns out that the pressure of the gas leaving a rocket no++le should "e the same as
am"ient pressure1 if lower the vehicle will "e slowed "y the difference in pressure
"etween the top of the engine and the e*it if higher then this represents pressure that
the "ell has not turned into thrust. !o achieve this ideal the diameter of the no++le
would need to increase with altitude which is difficult to arrange. A compromise
no++le is generally used and some percentage reduction in performance occurs. !o
improve on this various e*otic no++le designs such as the plug no++le stepped no++les
the e*panding no++le and the aerospike have "een proposed each having some way to
adapt to changing am"ient air pressure and each allowing the gas to e*pand further
against the no++le giving e*tra thrust at higher altitude.
!he reaction mass.s com"ustion temperature is often far higher than the melting point
of the no++le and com"ustion cham"er materials. (evertheless materials technology
mostly does not place an upper limit on the e*haust temperature of chemical rockets.
Cockets can use a"lative materials that erode in a controlled fashion or very high
temperature materials such as graphite ceramics or certain e*otic metals.
Alternatively rockets may employ cooling systems to prevent the no++le material itself
"ecoming too hot. Cegenerative cooling where the propellant is passed through tu"es
around the com"ustion cham"er or no++le and other techni,ues such as curtain cooling
or film cooling may also "e employed to give essentially unlimited no++le life.
Cockets emitting plasma can potentially carry out reactions inside a magnetic "ottle
and release the plasma via a magnetic no++le so that no solid matter need come in
contact with the plasma. &f course the machinery to do this is comple* "ut research
into nuclear fusion has developed methods some of which have "een used in
speculative propulsion systems.
H-7 rocket engine
<inear aerospike GCS-3388 engine
Cocket engines that could "e used in space #all emit gases unless otherwise noted$0
Solid rocket #chemical energy$
Hy"rid rocket #chemical energy$
Monopropellant rocket #chemical energy$
2ipropellant rocket #chemical energy$
!ripropellant rocket #chemical energy$
Eual mode propulsion rocket #chemical energy$
Cesisto'et rocket #electric heating$
Arc'et rocket #chemical "urning aided "y electrical discharge$
%ulsed plasma thruster #electric arc heating1 emits plasma$
Baria"le specific impulse magnetoplasma rocket #electromagnetic heating1
emits plasma$
Solar thermal rocket #solar energy$
(uclear thermal rocket #nuclear fission energy$
Cadioisotope rocket 4%oodle thruster #radioactive decay energy$
Antimatter cataly+ed nuclear pulse propulsion #fission and4or fusion energy$
=aseous fission reactor #nuclear fission energy$
/ission-fragment rocket #nuclear fission energy$
/ission sail #nuclear fission energy$
(uclear salt-water rocket #nuclear fission energy$
(uclear pulse propulsion #e*ploding fission4fusion "om"s$
/usion rocket #nuclear fusion energy$
Antimatter rocket #annihilation energy$
-orm-Hole rotating ring #=ravity energy$
&n the other hand engines have "een proposed that take advantage of the air in some
way #as do 'et engines and other air-"reathing engines$0
ram'ets
Air-augmented rocket
<i,uid air cycle engine
SA2CE
Scram'ets
Electromagnetic acceleration of reaction mass
!his test engine accelerates ions using electrostatic forces
Cather than relying on high temperature and fluid dynamics to accelerate the reaction
mass to high speeds there are a variety of methods that use electrostatic or
electromagnetic forces to accelerate the reaction mass directly. Hsually the reaction
mass is a stream of ions. Such an engine re,uires electric power to run and high
e*haust velocities re,uire large amounts of energy.
)t turns out that to a reasona"le appro*imation for these drives that fuel use energetic
efficiency and thrust are all inversely proportional to e*haust velocity. !heir very high
e*haust velocity means they re,uire huge amounts of energy and provide low thrust
"ut use hardly any fuel.
/or some missions solar energy may "e sufficient "ut for others nuclear energy will
"e necessary1 engines drawing their power from a nuclear source are called nuclear
electric rockets. -ith any current source of power the ma*imum amount of power that
can "e generated limits the ma*imum amount of thrust that can "e produced to a very
small value. %ower generation also often adds significant mass to the spacecraft.
Some electromagnetic methods0
)on thruster
o Electrostatic ion thruster
o Hall effect thruster
o /ield Emission Electric %ropulsion
o %ulsed inductive thruster
Magnetoplasmadynamic thruster
Baria"le specific impulse magnetoplasma rocket
Mass drivers #for propulsion$
!he 2iefeld-2rown effect is a somewhat e*otic electrical effect. )n air a voltage
applied across a particular kind of capacitor produces a thrust. !here have "een claims
that this also happens in a vacuum due to some sort of coupling "etween the
electromagnetic field and gravity "ut recent e*periments show no evidence of this
hypothesis.
Systems without reaction mass
(ASA study of a solar sail. !he sail would "e half a kilometer wide.
!he law of conservation of momentum states that any engine which uses no reaction
mass cannot move the center of mass of a spaceship #changing orientation on the other
hand is possi"le$. 2ut space is not empty especially space inside the Solar Systems1
there is a magnetic field and a solar wind. Barious propulsion methods try to take
advantage of this1 since all these things are very diffuse propulsion structures need to
"e large.
Space drives that need no #or little$ reaction mass0
!ether propulsion
Solar sails
Magnetic sails
Mini-magnetospheric plasma propulsion
/or changing the orientation of a satellite or other space vehicle conservation of
angular momentum does not pose a similar constraint. !hus many satellites use
momentum wheels to control their orientations. !hese cannot "e the only system for
controlling satellite orientation as frictional losses eventually re,uire the momentum to
"e F"led offF using a secondary system.
Launch mechanisms
High thrust is of vital importance for launch the thrust per unit mass has to "e well
a"ove g see also gravity drag. Many of the propulsion methods a"ove do not provide
that much thrust especially if solar power is used. /or a solar-powered launch at the
very least the mass of the solar panel would have to "e less than 38 grams per kilowatt
of power and even less if the specific impulse is higher or lower than the optimum
value which would "e in the order of magnitude of 78 km4s1 also the engine would
have to "e very light and energy-efficient.
E*haust to*icity or other side effects can also have detrimental effects on the
environment the spacecraft is launching from ruling out other propulsion methods.
!herefore all current spacecraft use chemical rocket engines #"ipropellant or solid-
fuel$ for launch.
&ne advantage that spacecraft have in launch is the availa"ility of infrastructure on the
ground to assist them. %roposed ground-assisted launch mechanisms include0
Space elevator
&r"ital airship
Space fountain
Hypersonic skyhook
Electromagnetic catapult #rail gun coil gun$
2allistic acceleration #%ro'ect HAC% ram accelerator$
<aser propulsion #<ightcraft$
Planetary arrival and landing
A test version of the MACS %athfinder air"ag system
-hen a vehicle is to enter or"it around its destination planet or when it is to land it
must ad'ust its velocity. !his can "e done using all the methods listed a"ove #provided
they can generate a high enough thrust$ "ut there are a few methods that can take
advantage of planetary atmospheres.
aero"raking "rings a pro"e into or"it
parachutes can land a pro"e on a planet with an atmosphere
air"ags can soften the final landing
=ravitational slingshots can also "e used to carry a pro"e onward to other destinations.
Methods reuiring new principles of physics
)n addition a variety of hypothetical propulsion techni,ues have "een considered that
would re,uire entirely new principles of physics to reali+e. Such methods would "e
essential for any hope at interstellar spaceflight. !o date however such methods are
currently highly speculative0
Alcu"ierre drive #-arp drive$
-ormholes
Eifferential sail
Eis'unction drive
Eiametric drive
%itch drive
2ias drive
!ime machines
Ta!le of methods and their specific impulse
2elow is a summary of some of the more popular proven technologies followed "y
increasingly speculative methods.
!hree num"ers are shown. !he first is the specific impulse0 the amount of thrust that
can "e produced using a unit of fuel. !his is the most important characteristic of the
propulsion method0
if the delta-v is much more than the e*haust velocity then e*or"itant amounts
of fuel are necessary #see the section on calculations a"ove$
if it is much more than the delta-v then proportionally more energy is needed1
if the power is limited as with solar energy this means that the 'ourney takes a
proportionally longer time
!he second and third are the typical amounts of thrust and the typical "urn times of the
method. &utside a gravitational potential small amounts of thrust applied over a long
period will give the same effect as large amounts of thrust over a short period.
!his result does not apply when the o"'ect is influenced "y gravity.
%ropulsion methods
Method
Specific
"mpulse
#$%s&kg or m&s'
Thrust
#$'
(uration
Propulsion methods in current use
Solid rocket 7888 - D888 78
;
- 78
A
minutes
Hy"rid rocket 7>88 - D388 minutes
Monopropellant rocket 7888 - ;888 8.7 - 788
milliseconds -
minutes
Momentum wheel #attitude control only$ (4A (4A indefinite
2ipropellant rocket 7888 - DA88 8.7 - 78
A
minutes
!ripropellant rocket 3>88 - D>88 minutes
Cesisto'et rocket 3888 - @888 78
-3
- 78 minutes
Arc'et rocket D888 - 73888 78
-3
- 78 minutes
Hall effect thruster #HE!$ ?888 - >8888 78
-;
- 78 months
Electrostatic ion thruster
7>888 -
?8888
78
-;
- 78 months
/ield Emission Electric %ropulsion
#/EE%$
788888 -
7;8888
78
-@
- 78
-;
weeks
Magnetoplasmadynamic thruster #M%E$
38888 -
788888
788 weeks
%ulsed plasma thruster #%%!$
%ulsed inductive thruster #%)!$ >8888 38 months
(uclear electric rocket As electric propulsion method used
!ether propulsion (4A 7 - 78
73
minutes
Currently feasi!le propulsion
methods
Solar sails (4A
: per km
3
#at 7 AH$
)ndefinite
Mass drivers #for propulsion$ ;8888 - I 78
D
- 78
?
months
&rion %ro'ect #(ear term nuclear pulse
propulsion$
38888 -
788888
78
:
- 78
73
several days
Baria"le specific impulse
magnetoplasma rocket #BAS)MC$
78888 -
;88888
D8 -
7388
days - months
(uclear thermal rocket :888 78
>
minutes
Solar thermal rocket A888 - 73888 7 - 788 weeks
Cadioisotope rocket A888-?888 months
Air-augmented rocket >888 - @888 seconds-minutes
<i,uid air cycle engine D>88 seconds-minutes
SA2CE ;88884D>88 minutes
Eual mode propulsion rocket
Technologies reuiring further
research
Magnetic sails (4A )ndefinite )ndefinite
Mini-magnetospheric plasma propulsion 388888 J7 (4k- months
(uclear pulse propulsion #&rion drive$
38888 -
7888888
78
:
- 78
73
half hour
=aseous fission reactor
78888 -
38888
78
;
- 78
@
Antimatter cataly+ed nuclear pulse
propulsion
38888 -
D88888
days-weeks
(uclear salt-water rocket 788888 78
;
- 78
A
half hour
2eam-powered propulsion As propulsion method powered "y "eam
/ission sail
/ission-fragment rocket 78888888
(uclear photonic rocket ;88888888 78
->
- 7 years-decades
Significantly !eyond current
engineering
/usion rocket
2ussard ram'et
Antimatter rocket
Cedshift rocket
See also
interplanetary travel
interstellar travel
specific impulse
rocket
!siolkovsky rocket e,uation
satellite
E)ternal links
(ASA 2eginner.s =uide to %ropulsion #http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-
12/airplane/bgp.html$
Advanced %ropulsion Concepts #http://www.islandone.org/APC/$ at
islandone.org
(ASA 2reakthrough %ropulsion %hysics
pro'ect #http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/bpp/$
Cocket %ropulsion #http://www.braenig.s/space/propls.htm$
Journal of Advanced !heoretical
%ropulsion #http://www.transtatorindstries.org/!"A#P.html$
Eifferent Cockets #http://www.pro$ectrho.com/roc%et/roc%et&c2.html$