"6_2_15_7.TXT" (2141 bytes) was created on 02-21-89

PROPULSION TRIVIA
 
N A S A                                            FactSheet
 
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
George C. Marshall Space Flight Center
Marshall Space Flight Center, Alabama   35812
 
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The SPACE SHUTTLE MAIN ENGINE operates at greater temperature extremes
than any mechanical system in common use today.  The fuel, liquified
hydrogen at -423 degrees F, is the second coldest liquid on Earth.
When it and the liquid oxygen are combusted, the temperature in the
main combustion chamber is 6,000 degrees F, higher than the boiling
point of iron.
 
The energy released by the three SPACE SHUTTLE MAIN ENGINES at full
power level, in units of watts, is equivalent to the output of 23
Hoover Dams.
 
The SPACE SHUTTLE MAIN ENGINE fuel turbo pump weighs approximately the
same as the V-8 engine of a modern automobile, but develops 310 times
the brake horsepower and develops as much torque as 18 V-8 automobile
engines.
 
One SPACE SHUTTLE MAIN ENGINE generates sufficient thrust to maintain
the flight of two and one-half 747s.
 
The combined volume of the EXTERNAL TANK'S liquid hydrogen and liquid
oxygen tanks is 73,600 cubic feet.  That is equal to the volume of
nearly six 1,600-square-foot houses.
 
If all the weld joints in the EXTERNAL TANK were laid out in a
straight line, they would stretch more than a half mile.
 
The EXTERNAL TANK is covered with a thermal protection system
(insulation) which if spread on the ground would cover nearly one-half
acre.
 
The two SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS generate a combined thrust of 5.3
million pounds, equivalent to 44 million horsepower or 14,700 six-axle
diesel locomotives or 400,000 subcompact cars.
 
At liftoff, the two SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS consume 11,000 pounds of
fuel per second.  That's two million times the rate at which fuel is
burned by the average family car.
 
At 149 feet, 1.6 inches tall, the SOLID ROCKET BOOSTER is only two
feet shorter than the Satue of Liberty.  But, each 700-ton loaded
SOLID ROCKET BOOSTER weighs more than three times as much as the
famous statue.