RUSSIA MENJUAL ROKET KE AMERIKA.....! An interesting news clip about Russia supplying rocket engines to United States space agency NASA. The RD-180 (РД-180, Ракетный Двигатель-180, Rocket Engine-180) is a rocket engine designed and built in Russia. It features a dual-combustion chamber, dual-nozzle design and is fueled by a kerosene/LOX mixture. Currently RD-180 engines are used for the first-stage of the US Atlas V launch vehicle. The RD-180 is derived from the RD-170/RD-171 line of rocket engines, which were used in the Soviet Energia launch vehicle, and are still in use in the Ukrainian/Russian Zenit launch vehicles. Country of origin Russia Date 1999 - 2014 Designer NPO Energomash Manufacturer NPO Energomash Application Booster Predecessor RD-170 Status In use Liquid-fuel engine Propellant LOX / RP-1 Cycle Staged combustion Configuration Chamber 2 Nozzle ratio 36.87 Performance Thrust (vac.) 933,400 lbf (4.15 MN) Thrust (SL) 860,568 lbf (3.83 MN) Thrust-to-weight ratio 78.44 Chamber pressure 3,868 psia (26.7 MPa, 266.8 bar) Isp (vac.) 338 s (3.31 km/s) Isp (SL) 311 s (3.05 km/s) Burn time 270 Sec Dimensions Length 140 in (3.56 m) Diameter 124 in (3.15 m) Dry weight 12,081 lb (5,480 kg) History[edit] The roots of the RD-180 rocket engine extend back into the Soviet Energia launch vehicle project. The RD-170, a four chamber engine, was developed for use on the strap-on boosters for this vehicle, which ultimately was used to loft the Buran orbiter. This engine was scaled to a two chamber version by combining the RD-170s combustion devices with 1/2 size turbomachinery. After successful performance in engine tests on a test stand, and high-level agreements between the US government and the Russian government, the engines were imported to the US for use on the Lockheed Martin Atlas III, with first flight in 2000. The engine is also used on the United Launch Alliance Atlas V, the successor to the Atlas III.[1] The engine has no direct connection to the NK-33, which was developed by a different bureau (Kuznetzov) nearly a decade earlier. 2014 Availability Concerns[edit] Doubts about the reliability of the supply chain for the RD-180 arose following the Ukraine crisis in March 2014. For over thirteen years since the engine was first used in the Atlas III launch vehicle in 2000, there was never any serious jeopardy to the engine supply, despite an uneven record of US-Russian relations since the Cold War. But worsening relations between the West and Russia after March have led to several blockages, including a short-lived judicial injunction from the US courts that were unclear on the scope of the US sanctions on importing the Russian engine.[2] On May 13, 2014, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin announced that Russia will ban the United States from using Russian-made rocket engines for military launches[3]—a frequent payload of the ULA Atlas V launch vehicle which powers its first stage with a single RD-180 engines that is expended after each flight.[4] In response, the US Air Force has asked the Aerospace Corporation to begin evaluating alternatives for powering the Atlas 5 booster stage with non-RD-180 engines. Early estimates are that it would require five or more years to replace the RD-180 on the Atlas V.[5] Even if the Russian government does not cut off the supply to ULA of imported RD-180 engines, the US Congress, with emerging support from the Air Force, has come around to a view that it would not be advantageous to the US government to start up a US production line to produce the RD-180. However, the US Congress is advocating for the initiation of a new US hydrocarbon rocket engine program, to field a new engine by 2022.[6] In June 2014, Aerojet Rocketdyne proposed that the US Federal government fund an all-new, U.S.-sourced rocket propulsion system, the 2,200-kilonewton-class (500,000 lbf) thrust kerosene/LOX AR-1 rocket engine. as of June 2014 Aerojets early projection was that the cost of the each engine would be under US$25 million per pair of engines—not including the up to US$1 billion estimated development cost to be funded by the US Government. Aerojet believed that the AR-1 could replace the RD-180 in the US Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle fleet, and that it would be more affordable.[7] On 21 August 2014, the U.S. Air Force released an official request for information (RFI) for a replacement for the Russian RD-180 rocket engine. The RFI seeks information on booster propulsion and/or launch system materiel options that could deliver cost-effective, commercially-viable solutions for current and future National Security Space (NSS) launch requirements. Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) is considering an acquisition strategy to stimulate the commercial development of booster propulsion systems and/or launch systems for Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV)-class spacelift applications. youtu.be/hR4l0_GONY4
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 12:02:42 +0000
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