Engineers working on the heavy lift Space Launch System, envisioned to carry astronauts beyond low Earth orbit, are pursuing a back-to-the-future approach by examining the engines that sent astronauts to the moon more than 40 years ago.
Reverse engineering the F-1 engine
According to a story in Ars Technica, engineers at NASA's Marshall Spaceflight Center are reverse engineering the F-1 engine, the most powerful rocket engine ever used, that powered the first stage of the Saturn V moon rocket. NASA has a number of unused F-1s in storage since the last three Apollo moon landings were cancelled during the early 1970s. NASA engineers have an ancient F1 engine in a workshop and have started to take it apart, to understand its design, and to ascertain how a version of it could be used in the Space Launch System.
F-1 engine design
The original F-1 engines, according to NASA, were developed in the 1960s and burned liquid oxygen and kerosene. They were 19 feet high and 12 feet 4 inches in width. Each engine could exert 1.5 million pounds of thrust at sea level. The operating temperature in the thrust chamber was 5,970 degrees Fahrenheit. Five of these engines were used in the first stage of the Saturn V.
Making modern documents of the F-1
One of the first tasks of the engineering team examining the F1 was to create modern computer-aided design documents of the engines, according to Ars Technica. The original design documents still exist, but are somewhat incomplete, having been created under deadline pressure during the space race. Using modern digital scanning devices, the engineers meticulously examined the F-1's engine's exterior, then its interior, sometimes having to literally create the tools needed to take the engine apart safely. The resulting CAD document can be used to manufacture parts of the F-1 using modern techniques.
Test firing parts of the F-1
Next, according to a story in Space.com. the gas generator, which is used to drive the turbo pump for the F-1, was test-fired for the first time in decades. Using modern instruments, data that was unavailable in the 1960s was gathered for the first time.
Building a new F-1
The ultimate goal of the F-1 forensics examination is to create a new engine, the F-1B, which can be used as part of a strap-on booster for the Space Launch System called the Pyrios, according to Ars Technica. The Pyrios would have two F-1B engines each capable of generating 1.8 million pounds of thrust. The F-1B would be manufactured using 3D printing techniques and would be a vastly simplified from the F-1, using 40 manufactured elements as opposed to 5,600. The manufacturing process will reduce welds and joins (all done by hand for the original F-1) reducing the cost of the F-1B. The Pyrios strap-on booster is competing against a solid rocket booster similar to the ones that helped to launch the Space Shuttle into low Earth orbit.
Mark R. Whittington is the author of Children of Apollo, The Last Moonwalker, and Dreams of Barry's Stepfather. He has written on space subjects for a variety of periodicals, including The Houston Chronicle, The Washington Post, USA Today, the L.A. Times, and The Weekly Standard.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nasa-engineers-developing-version-apollo-era-f-1-185800314.html
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