How much thrust does the space shuttle have

Well, buenos dias, Bernardo. At this point, only Atlantis and Columbia have received those upgrades. Chris from Kansas City Are there any new plans for a lighter yet faster and more fuel efficient engine? Where are these plans -- in the development stage or are they even farther along? Chris, rocket scientists are always trying to find new efficiencies in rocket engines and part of that comes from decreasing the weight of the engines. Right now, through Space Launch Initiative, for example, we're trying to find ways to develop engines that reduce the weight and increase efficiency.

But you do have to remember that a lot of it is the weight of the vehicle and hopefully through the development of new composite materials, ceramics and other things, we'll be able to drive down the weight of the engines, drive down the weight of the vehicles and achieve those efficiencies.

Kit from Ramona, California I've heard that rocket engines are more efficient in a thin atmosphere than at sea level and most efficient in a vacuum. So why are launches generally made from sea level rather than from a high point in the mountains? Wouldn't a launch from the mountains save fuel since the rocket engines would be more efficient and because the ship is already at a higher potential energy location in relation to the Earth?

Well, Kit, that's a very good question. Yes, there would be efficiencies launching at higher elevations. But as the song says, there ain't no mountain high enough, or big enough or safe enough for us to have a launch facility like the Kennedy Space Center at a higher elevation, so we'll keep launching from sea level.

Another important factor, of course, is latitude as much as altitude. And that's why launches near the equator are much more efficient in achieving certain orbits.. How far off their standard direction can they be moved degrees?

The Space Shuttle Main Engines can actually be gimbaled plus or minus about and-a-half degrees. Well, each shuttle main engine has about , pounds of thrust, and there are three on the vehicle, so that's about 1. The entire vehicle, taking into account the solid rocket boosters, is about seven million pounds of thrust at launch.

The Saturn V vehicle in the Apollo program, with five F1 engines, each one generating 1. So, close, but not quite. But then you add the solid rocket boosters and of course the various orbit maneuver engines that round out the propulsion picture on the shuttle. James from Atlanta, Georgia During launch, the three SSME's are supplied with fuel liquid hydrogen and oxidizer LOZ , but since these fuels are not hypergolic in nature, what actually ignites the mixture?

Hypergolic fuels of course are fuels that ignite when they come in contact with each other. In a liquid oxygen-liquid hydrogen engine, such as the space shuttle main engine, they are actually ignited by a spark igniter. They are located in the augmented spark igniter chamber, and they actually ignite the fuel.

The engine itself generates the equivalent of 12 million horsepower, at maximum power which is right before cutoff—in vacume. The two solid rocket boosters carry the entire weight of the external fuel tank and the orbiter, each solid rocket booster weighing in at about , The solid rocket boosters both take the space shuttle to an altitude of 45 kilometers or 45, meters into the sky in about seconds two minutes before they burn out.

Combustion is completed in the main combustion chamber. Temperatures in the main engine combustion chamber can reach as high as 6, degrees Fahrenheit 3, Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search. Press ESC to cancel.

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