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Space Science

Shuttle Main Engine Test to be Webcast 23

Posted by michael from the vroom-vroom dept.
spamacon writes "Periodically, the Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs) get tested, and sometimes the public is invited to witness the event. Well, now they've gone and done it right: this Friday, they are going to broadcast the test over the internet (with audio, so go out and buy that big subwoofer you've had your eye one). The webcast link is here, and a little history of the SSME is located here. If you are in southern Mississississ(stop me!)ippi on Friday, go have a peek. Should be a blast (ugh)."
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Shuttle Main Engine Test to be Webcast More

Shuttle Main Engine Test to be Webcast

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  • Does anyone know which shuttle's engines will be tested?
  • Youre gonna slashdot the space shuttle, you bastards!!!

  • Rocket Science (Score:5, Funny)

    by Sherloqq ( 577391 ) on Thursday November 07, 2002 @02:16PM (#4618620)
    from the news blurb (emphasis mine):

    The streaming presentation will begin about 30 minutes before the test firing, roughly at 5:30 pm CST (23:30 GMT) Friday. Note that these times are the scheduled times. However, since this really is rocket science, times are approximate.

    Even NASA has a sense of humor :)

  • I really love and hate the SSME (Score:5, Informative)

    by WolfWithoutAClause ( 162946 ) on Thursday November 07, 2002 @03:44PM (#4619432) Homepage
    On the one side, they're rocket engines, and they achieve maybe 97% of the theoretical maximum performance you can get from liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen from these propellents. Cool!

    On the other, they're expensive as hell, after 30 years of flying they're only just now looking like they're even close to getting them fully reusable (does it count if you have to remove them and tear them apart after each and every mission 'just to check'), and contrary to what NASA will tell you they aren't the only reusable engine out there (other engines aren't classed as such, mainly by NASA, but have had >2,000 seconds on them during testing, and that's about the same as most of the shuttle engines have, only the other engines probably need less maintenance.)

    Oh yeah and they burn hydrogen. Hydrogen gives great exhaust velocity, but it's really seriously not very dense. This makes the tanks, fuel lines, and pumps much heavier, (that external tank costs $100 million, oh yeah and they throw it away each time).

    Current thinking is that LOX/LH is about 6% worse overall than LOX/Kerosene for getting to orbit- the rocket needs more delta-v due to the extra vehicle weight and other technical issues [yarchive.net] and that swamps the extra performance of the hydrogen; oh yeah and LOX/Kerosene may not have needed an external tank to be thrown away because Kerosene is much denser.

    All in all. Hey, it works! Anyway, pass the popcorn someone; it's still a rocket engine, and it makes a loud noise. ;-)

  • realONE (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Bri3D ( 584578 )
    A problem for Linux users: it requires RealONE Player to play the stream, or does it?
    • I've never been present for a shuttle launch, but I was at Cape Canaveral for Apollo 14's liftoff. To properly simulate the sound, you need to have someone basically shake you senseless. :-)

      At 5 miles away, the ground shook, and it made this cracking noise like I imagine you might hear inside a glacier as it slowly breaks in half. I was pretty young at the time, but that's not a sound or sight you forget.

      I guess I could put my Definitive sub on my desk and hit the "play" button. Wife will beat me if I shake more trinkets off the shelves in here again, though.
  • It requires RealONE. Is there an Open Source answer?

  • Aerospike Engines (Score:3, Interesting)

    by turgid ( 580780 ) on Friday November 08, 2002 @11:34AM (#4625838) Journal
    Whatever happened to Linear [nasa.gov] Aerospike [nasa.gov] rocket engines, that were supposed to be more efficient than conventional ones with bell-shaped nozzles? In theory they could be made anular as well as linear. Wouldn't these make good replacements for the shuttles main engines, making it more efficient? What's holding back their development? I once read that they were considered for the space shuttle when it was being designed but they were considered too new and radical.
    • I once read that they were considered for the space shuttle when it was being designed but they were considered too new and radical.

      NASA engineers (and I know this is hard to believe!) are even more conservative than people tracking Debian stable.

  • Here in Utah, they test out the booster engines out by the Great Salt Lake. Its really an impressive thing to hear. There will be a really loud but low pitched rumbling noise that echoes for a few minutes. These booster test are at least 30 miles away from my city, but I have I have no clue exactly how far away they are. I'll look out west across the Great Salt Lake and the mountains, but see nothing.

    I'd sure like to see the shuttle enginges test up close. It'd probably one of those tests that you feel much more than you hear.

    -----
    Abortions for some, miniature American flags for others! - Kodos!

    • I assume this is Morton Thiokol doing the testing? I'd sort of forgotten they still built the things after the Challenger disaster (not that it was their fault, I know NASA waived its own temperature regs), this article [spacedaily.com] indicates they have a $2.4 billion contract through 2004.

      Geez, 1+ million lbs. propellant per booster! Interesting, isn't it that Goddard developed liquid-fueled rockets as a modernization of solid-fueled rockets, then we later went back to solid fuel for so many applications. I guess solid fuel's biggest disadvantage is that you can't turn it off...

      IIRC there were, at the outset of the shuttle program, proposals for a one-piece SRB casing. The only reason for a segmented booster was to facilitate shipping; a 1-piece could only have been delivered by barge. I think some politician or other was from UT, and well you get the picture.
  • The streaming presentation will begin about 30 minutes before the test firing, roughly at 5:30 pm CST (23:30 GMT) Friday. Note that these times are the scheduled times. However, since this really is rocket science, times are approximate.

    Approximate must mean within 24hours... the countdown on the page is now at 13Hours

    TM

  • Did the clock get hacked or is it just /.'ed? Whats the dillio 23 hours?

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