Stories
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Briefs: Materials
Non-Toxic HAN Monopropellant Propulsion
A highly miniaturized, MR-143, green monopropellant thruster was developed for 1N thrust. Testing indicated the initial catalyst bed heater was insufficient. In subsequent development, the thruster was equipped with a more efficient catalyst bed heater. For reliable ignition of the advanced, non-toxic,...
Briefs: Propulsion
Green Liquid Monopropellant Thruster for In-Space Propulsion
Hydrazine has been the standard baseline liquid monopropellant for space propulsion over many decades since replacing hydrogen peroxide. Hydrazine was preferred over peroxide due to its easier storability and higher performance. Like peroxide, hydrazine can be readily decomposed by...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Six-Degree-of-Freedom Control With Only Eight Thrusters
Typical spacecraft thruster configurations are often unable to provide full six-degree-of-freedom control and may have unwanted interaction between their attitude control and trajectory control functions, have undesirably high instantaneous electrical power demands, and use more thrusters than...
Briefs: Materials
Hydrazine Absorbent/Detoxification Pad
A new chemistry was developed for existing hydrazine absorbent/detoxification pads. Enhancements include faster reaction rates, weight reduction, a color change that indicates spill occurrence, and another color change that indicates successful hydrazine degradation. The previous spill control pad, using...
Application Briefs: Communications
Monopropellant (hydrazine) thrustersAerojet RocketdyneSacramento, CA 916-355-4000 www.rocket.com
Aerojet Rocketdyne, a GenCorp company, played a vital role in placing the second of three...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Unibody Composite Pressurized Structure
An integrated, generic unibody composite pressurized structure (UCPS) combined with a positive expulsion device (PED), consisting of an elastomeric bladder for monopropellant hydrazine, has been quasi-standardized for spacecraft use. The combination functions as an all-composite, nonmetallic, propellant tank...
Application Briefs: Aerospace
Aerojet Rocketdyne, a GenCorp company, has shipped the first set of four solar electric propulsion thrusters to Lockheed Martin at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. Lockheed Martin will...
Briefs: Software
Space Operations Learning Center (SOLC) iPhone/iPad Application
This iPhone application, Space Junk Sammy, is intended to be an educational application designed for Apple iPhones and iPads. This new concept educates kids in an innovative way about how orbital debris affects space missions.
Briefs: Materials
Ionic Liquids to Replace Hydrazine
A method for developing safe, easy-to-handle propellants has been developed based upon ionic liquids (ILs) or their eutectic mixtures. An IL is a binary combination of a typically organic cation and anion, which generally produces an ionic salt with a melting point below 100 °C. Many ILs have melting points near,...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
More About N₂O-Based Propulsion and Breathable-Gas Systems
A concept was evaluated of using nitrous oxide as (1) a monopropellant in thrusters for space suits and spacecraft and (2) a source of breathable gas inside space suits and spacecraft, both by exploiting the controlled decomposition of N2O into N2 and O2. Relative to one prior...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Fuel-Cell Power Source Based on Onboard Rocket Propellants
The use of onboard rocket propellants (dense liquids at room temperature) in place of conventional cryogenic fuel-cell reactants (hydrogen and oxygen) eliminates the mass penalties associated with cryocooling and boil-off. The high energy content and density of the rocket propellants will...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Three proposed methods for measuring trace quantities of hydrazines involve ionization and detection of hydrazine derivatives. These methods are intended to overcome the limitations of prior...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
The name “enriched storable oxidizers” (ESOs) has been coined for a family of optimized mixtures of between two and four oxidizer fluids. For most applications, the constituents of these...
Briefs: Green Design & Manufacturing
Nitrous Oxide/Paraffin Hybrid Rocket Engines
Nitrous oxide/paraffin (N2OP) hybrid rocket engines have been invented as alternatives to other rocket engines — especially those that burn granular, rubbery solid fuels consisting largely of hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB). Originally intended for use in launching spacecraft, these engines...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
An electrochemical method of disposal of hydrazines dissolved in water has been devised. The method is applicable to hydrazine (N2H4), to monomethyl hydrazine [also denoted by MMH or by its...
Briefs: Materials
Three color-indicating devices have been conceived as simple, rapid, inexpensive means of detecting hazardous liquid and gaseous substances in settings in which safety is of paramount...
Briefs: Materials
Precious-Metal Salt Coatings for Detecting Hydrazines
Substrates coated with a precious metal salt KAuCl4 have been found to be useful for detecting hydrazine vapors in air at and above a concentration of the order of 0.01 parts per million (ppm). Upon exposure to air containing a sufficient amount of hydrazine for a sufficient time, the coating...
Briefs: Materials
Oxide Protective Coats for Ir/Re Rocket Combustion Chambers
An improved material system has been developed for rocket engine combustion chambers for burning oxygen/hydrogen mixtures or novel monopropellants, which are highly oxidizing at operating temperatures. The baseline for developing the improved material system is a prior iridium/rhenium...
Briefs: Materials
Development of Alternatives to Hydrazines as Propellants
A brief report summarizes an investigation of less-toxic alternatives to toxic monopropellant fluids used in launch vehicles, upper stages, and spacecraft propulsion. The toxic fluids in question are (1) hydrazine and its derivatives, used, variously, as fuels or by themselves as...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Gas Generator for Inflating Structures in Outer Space
A report proposes a system that would supply gas for inflating one or more inflatable structure(s) in outer space. The system would include a small tank of helium for initial inflation, plus a catalytic hydrazine gas generator that would supply makeup gas over the long term. After initial...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Liquid/Vapor-Hydrazine Thruster Would Produce Small Impulses
A report proposes a liquid/vapor-hydrazine thruster for use in controlling the attitude of a small spacecraft. From the upstream to the downstream end, the thruster would include a tank containing liquid hydrazine, a fast liquid valve, a heated prevaporizing plenum, a fast gas...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Thruster Based on Sublimation of Solid Hydrazine
A report proposes a small spacecraft attitude-control thruster in which the propellant material would be hydrazine that would be stored frozen until sublimed at the instant of use. From the upstream to the downstream end, the main components of the thruster would include a plug of solid...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
A combination of procedure and equipment for loading liquid hydrazine into a spacecraft fuel tank that contains a diaphragm or bladder would be modified, according to a proposal. The...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
In a proposed method for rapidly detecting hydrazine in air at concentrations at or above 10 parts per billion by volume (ppbv), tunable diode lasers (TDLs) and photodetectors would be used...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Ion-Mobility Spectrometric Determination of Hydrazines
Hydrazine, monomethylhydrazine, and unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine can be detected and measured at concentrations as low as 10 parts per billion in the presence of ammonia at concentrations as high as 10 parts per million (greater than the odor threshold concentration of ammonia,...
Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Gimbaled Injectors for Testing Spacecraft Thrusters
A report proposes an assembly of gimbaled valve/nozzle subassemblies for use in injecting either a propellant fluid (e.g., monomethyl hydrazine) or a propellant-simulating fluid (e.g., water) into the combustion chamber of a spacecraft thruster during hot-fire or cold testing, respectively. The...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Kit for Sampling Nitrosamines From Aqueous Solutions
Scientists at White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) have devised a kit for extracting nitrosamines from aqueous solutions. In comparison with extractions according to the method recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), extractions by use of the kit are faster, cheaper and less...
Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Micromachined Monopropellant Thrusters
A report proposes monopropellant microthrusters for a new generation of miniature spacecraft with mission lifetimes stretching into years. These thrusters would include micromachined nozzle/chamber assemblies containing microvalves, designed according to emerging concepts of microelectromechanical systems...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
A sonochemical treatment has been proposed for removing hydrazine contaminants from water. The basis of the proposal is a conjecture that the sonochemical effect in water containing...
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