NASA tests rotating detonation rocket engine

NASA's 3D-printed rotating detonation rocket engine (RDRE) operates in record time, could transform deep space missions.

NASA tests rotating detonation rocket engine

NASA's 3D-printed rotating detonation rocket engine successfully tested. Video : NASA

NASA is pushing a revolutionary new rocket technology at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Engineers at the facility fired a 3D-printed Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine (RDRE) in a record 251 seconds with 2,631 kg of thrust, New Atlas reported on December 28.

For more than six decades, NASA has relied on chemical rockets to launch vehicles into space. Chemical rockets have been operating at near theoretical limits since 1942. Furthermore, most liquid-fueled rockets have not changed in basic design since the days of the German V2 rocket. To further increase the performance of rocket engines, NASA is considering a design different from the RDRE.

Instead of using a combustion chamber, where fuel and oxygen are injected and burned at subsonic speeds, in RDRE, they are injected into a gap between two coaxial cylinders. When the mixture ignites, it creates a reaction and a shock wave. That wave travels inside the gap at supersonic speeds, creating more heat and pressure. If the combustion can be sustained, it will create significantly more effective rocket thrust. In fact, NASA says the latest test is powerful and long-lasting enough to meet the requirements for landing a lander or burning engines in deep space for a mission to the Moon or Mars.

However, NASA stressed that the technology is not yet mature. These types of firing tests are necessary to scale up the combustion chamber for different thrust levels. If successful, RDRE could operate on the lander, the upper stage, and provide back-thrust to send large equipment to the surface of Mars.

“RDRE allows us to make a huge leap forward in design performance,” said Thomas Teasley, a combustion equipment engineer at Marshall. “It demonstrates we are one step closer to building a lightweight propulsion system that can carry more cargo and equipment into deep space, an essential part of NASA’s plans to fly to the Moon and Mars.”

An Khang (According to New Atlas )

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