Analyses Find Cause of Fatal Problem in Rocket Engine Combustors

Advanced analyses shed light on the mechanism of a deadly problem plaguing combustion chambers in rocket engines.

Simple, Fuel-Efficient Rocket Engine for Cheaper, Lighter Spacecraft

The engine could make rockets not only more fuel-efficient, but also more lightweight and less complicated to construct.

Origami Solves Challenge of Storing and Moving Rocket Fuel

A folded plastic bladder could store and pump the fuel.

Cladding and Freeform Deposition for Coolant Channel Closeout

This method is a faster way to manufacture combustion chambers and nozzles for aerospace propulsion as well as heat exchangers in oil and gas applications.

Rotating Detonation Engines for Rocket Propulsion

These engines will allow upper stage rockets for space missions to become lighter, travel farther, and burn more cleanly.

Rocket Thruster Exploits the Mechanism Behind Solar Flares

Thrusters based on magnetic reconnection could complete long-distance missions in a shorter period of time.

Oxide Dispersion Strengthened Medium Entropy Alloy

This additively manufactured alloy is tailored for high-temperature applications.

Water-Powered Engines Offer Satellite Mobility

The technology could allow deep-space exploration without running out of propellant.

Facility Focus: NASA John C. Stennis Space Center

Stennis now is testing RS-25 rocket engines for the Space Launch System (SLS) that will carry humans back to the Moon.

SMART Solar Sail

The miniaturized, autonomous, reconfigurable solar sail is capable of very fine maneuvering by small surface deformation.

Machine Learning Enables Rapid Rocket Engine Design

This method provides a fast way to assess rocket engine performance in a variety of operating conditions.

Facility Focus: NASA Marshall Space Flight Center

Founded on July 1, 1960, Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL is one of NASA’s largest field centers. Marshall engineers designed, built, tested, and helped launch the Saturn V...

LED Lighting Improves Efficiency and Imaging

Rocket engine testing requires a lot of light since all tests are filmed with high-speed cameras to monitor performance; however, those cameras have to adjust to the bright plume from a firing...

Rocket Nozzle Side-Load Analysis Software

Lateral nozzle forces are known to cause severe structural damage during testing of any new rocket engine configuration under development. While three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD)...

Integrated Multiphysics and Advanced Diagnostics

The objective of this effort was to design, fabricate, integrate, and fly a nuclear thermal rocket without having to build massive ground test facilities. Furthermore, this nuclear rocket...

Freeform Channel Close-Out for High-Performance Heat Exchangers

Large-scale liquid rocket engines with regeneratively cooled nozzles will enable reliable and reduced-cost access to space. The coolant that circulates through the internal...

Novel Design of an Orifice Control Element

An orifice element is commonly used in liquid rocket engine test facilities either as a flow metering device, a damper for acoustic resonance, or to provide a large reduction in pressure over a very...

Novel Threading Enables New Approach to Golf Clubs

Spinoff is NASA's annual publication featuring successfully commercialized NASA technology. This commercialization has contributed to the development of products and services in the fields...

NASA's Software Answers Big Questions About Space and Earth

Simulating the SLS Sound Suppression Water System

NASA’s next-generation Space Launch System (SLS) for deep space exploration consists of four RS-25 liquid rocket engines and...

System Recycles and Purifies Large Volumes of Helium for SLS

Helium reclamation system
VACCO Industries
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Recyling and purifying high-flow helium allows uninterrupted...

Seeing Closer and Clearer with NASA Imaging Technology

NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-Rex) spacecraft launched on September 8 to the near-Earth asteroid Bennu to harvest...

Precise Measurements on Earth Enable Further Exploration in Space

Measurement is the first step to success. If you can’t measure something accurately, it can’t be understood or improved. That is especially true for the spacecraft rockets...