The TR-106 or low-cost pintle engine (LCPE) was a developmental rocket engine designed by TRW under the Space Launch Initiative to reduce the cost of launch services and space flight. Operating on LOX/LH2 the engine had a thrust of 2892 kN, or 650,000 pounds, making it one of the most powerful engines ever constructed.[1]
TR-106
A TRW 650K low-cost pintle engine undergoes hot-fire testing at SSC's E-1 test stand.
The goal of the development was to produce a large, low-cost, easy-to-manufacture booster engine. The design used a single element coaxial pintle injector, a robust type of injector. It also used ablative cooling of the combustion chamber and nozzle instead of the more costly to manufacture regenerative cooling.[1]
Tom Mueller was a lead engineer for development of the LCPE,[2][3] a 650,000 lbf thrust LOX/LH2 engine. In the summer of 2000, this LCPE was successfully hot fire tested at 100 percent of its rated thrust as well as at a 65 percent throttle condition at NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.[4] TRW changed the pintle injector configuration three times during testing to explore the engine's performance envelope; engineers also replaced the ablative chamber once while the engine was on the test stand—demonstrating the LCPE's ease of operation. Test results demonstrated that the engine was stable over a wide variety of thrust levels and propellant ratios.[1]
Development of the engine was temporarily discontinued with the cancellation of the Space Launch Initiative.[1] In 2002 TRW was acquired by Northrop Grumman and development of a LOX/RP-1 engine (TR-107) continued, under contract to NASA, for potential use on next-generation launch and space transportation vehicles.[5]
Legacyedit
Tom Mueller became TRW vice president of propulsion. In 2002, Elon Musk asked Mueller to join him as a founding member of SpaceX.
Technology lessons from the Low Cost Pintle Engine project were used in the development of the SpaceXMerlin engine.[6][7] Mueller joined SpaceX in 2002, becoming its head of propulsion, along with other TRW staffers.[8] The turbopump, meanwhile, was contracted to Barber-Nichols, Inc., which derived their pump from their work on the FASTRAC turbopump.[9] After SpaceX accused Northrop Grumman, TRW's parent, of letting engineers supervising SpaceX under a Pentagon contract use that information on Northrop's own rocket technology, Northrop Grumman then sued for theft of trade secrets.[10][11] The dueling suits were settled in early 2005.[12]
^Karp, Jonathan; Paztor, Andy. Can Defense Contractors Police Their Rivals Without Conflicts? Wall Street Journal, December 28, 2004
^. Raklaw.com. Archived from the original on 2014-02-06. Retrieved 2014-02-17.
^Journal, Jonathan KarpStaff Reporter of The Wall Street (2005-02-11). "Northrop Settles Rocket Dispute With SpaceX". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
External linksedit
Media related to TR-106 at Wikimedia Commons
TRW Engine Development, 2000, AIAA 2017-08-09 at the Wayback Machine
April 15, 2024
cost, pintle, engine, lcpe, developmental, rocket, engine, designed, under, space, launch, initiative, reduce, cost, launch, services, space, flight, operating, engine, thrust, 2892, pounds, making, most, powerful, engines, ever, constructed, 650k, cost, pintl. The TR 106 or low cost pintle engine LCPE was a developmental rocket engine designed by TRW under the Space Launch Initiative to reduce the cost of launch services and space flight Operating on LOX LH2 the engine had a thrust of 2892 kN or 650 000 pounds making it one of the most powerful engines ever constructed 1 TR 106A TRW 650K low cost pintle engine undergoes hot fire testing at SSC s E 1 test stand Country of originUnited StatesManufacturerTRWApplicationlow cost throttleable booster engineLiquid fuel enginePropellantLiquid oxygen LH2 liquid hydrogen PerformanceThrust sea level2 892 kN 650 000 lbf DimensionsDry weight00 kg 0 lb Contents 1 Overview 2 Status 3 Legacy 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksOverview editThe goal of the development was to produce a large low cost easy to manufacture booster engine The design used a single element coaxial pintle injector a robust type of injector It also used ablative cooling of the combustion chamber and nozzle instead of the more costly to manufacture regenerative cooling 1 The use of the pintle injector allows the engine thrust to be widely throttleable as was the case for the lunar module descent engine 1 Status editTom Mueller was a lead engineer for development of the LCPE 2 3 a 650 000 lbf thrust LOX LH2 engine In the summer of 2000 this LCPE was successfully hot fire tested at 100 percent of its rated thrust as well as at a 65 percent throttle condition at NASA s John C Stennis Space Center in Mississippi 4 TRW changed the pintle injector configuration three times during testing to explore the engine s performance envelope engineers also replaced the ablative chamber once while the engine was on the test stand demonstrating the LCPE s ease of operation Test results demonstrated that the engine was stable over a wide variety of thrust levels and propellant ratios 1 Development of the engine was temporarily discontinued with the cancellation of the Space Launch Initiative 1 In 2002 TRW was acquired by Northrop Grumman and development of a LOX RP 1 engine TR 107 continued under contract to NASA for potential use on next generation launch and space transportation vehicles 5 Legacy editTom Mueller became TRW vice president of propulsion In 2002 Elon Musk asked Mueller to join him as a founding member of SpaceX Technology lessons from the Low Cost Pintle Engine project were used in the development of the SpaceX Merlin engine 6 7 Mueller joined SpaceX in 2002 becoming its head of propulsion along with other TRW staffers 8 The turbopump meanwhile was contracted to Barber Nichols Inc which derived their pump from their work on the FASTRAC turbopump 9 After SpaceX accused Northrop Grumman TRW s parent of letting engineers supervising SpaceX under a Pentagon contract use that information on Northrop s own rocket technology Northrop Grumman then sued for theft of trade secrets 10 11 The dueling suits were settled in early 2005 12 See also editRaptorReferences edit a b c d e TR 106 Astronautix com 2000 09 26 Archived from the original on August 20 2016 Retrieved 2020 07 06 Company SpaceX 2010 12 08 Archived from the original on 2013 01 12 Retrieved 2021 06 04 Mueller Tom Dressler Gordon TRW 40 klbf LOX RP 1 low cost pintle engine test results 35th AIAA ASME SAE ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit Huntsville Alabama July 24 2000 Stennis Space Center Spinoff nasa gov 2011 05 01 Archived from the original on 2013 03 01 Retrieved 2014 02 17 Booster Vehicle Engines Archived from the original on May 23 2010 Seedhouse Eric SpaceX Making Commercial Spaceflight a Reality Springer Science amp Business Jun 15 2013 p 36 Air amp Space Magazine December 2011 January 2012 p 25 Reingold Jennifer Hondas in Space Fast Company February 2005 Rocket Engine Turbopumps Barber Nichols 1999 04 30 Retrieved 2014 02 17 Karp Jonathan Paztor Andy Can Defense Contractors Police Their Rivals Without Conflicts Wall Street Journal December 28 2004 Brian Ledahl Partner Russ August amp Kabat Los Angeles Intellectual Property Attorney Raklaw com Archived from the original on 2014 02 06 Retrieved 2014 02 17 Journal Jonathan KarpStaff Reporter of The Wall Street 2005 02 11 Northrop Settles Rocket Dispute With SpaceX Wall Street Journal ISSN 0099 9660 Retrieved 2021 06 04 External links edit nbsp Media related to TR 106 at Wikimedia Commons TRW Engine Development 2000 AIAA Archived 2017 08 09 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title TR 106 amp oldid 1184202173, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
