Page 10 - Aerotech News and Review Dec. 16 2016

AFRL, from 8
STEM activities in schools to take the program to a new level in the Antelope Valley, organizers say.
Schools were required to submit their proposals to the Rocket Lab explaining how they would improve STEM in their classroom, their school, or across the district. These proposals included a short write-up and a budget for the year- long project.
Six high school STEM projects have been started under the ENSPIRE program since its inception this year. Tehachapi High School, Rosamond High School, Boron Junior-Senior High School, Hesperia High School, Antelope V alley High School and The Palmdale Aerospace Academy have all started projects, which were announced last month by Kriss Vander Hyde, edu- cation outreach manager for AFRL.
“The goal of AFRL Rocket Lab STEM is to inspire kids all across the Antelope V alley to become the next generation of scientists and engineers, not just for the Air Force but all the industries across the United States,” Vander Hyde said.
Tehachapi Unified School District proposed a project to build “Mobile Maker Carts” that can be used by the high school robotics team to get junior high and elementary students interested in the school STEM program. These carts will be used by the students of the Tehachapi Robotics Team in their Peer Teaching Program to teach engineering and programming in other schools.
Rosamond and A V High Schools both proposed using drones in unique ways. Rosamond is using drones to reach out to their STEM students and do a program where student teams will build their own unmanned aerial ve- hicle. AV High School proposed to use drones and infrared sensors in precision agriculture to monitor crop growth and watering efficiency.
Robots were the main theme in Bo- ron, Hesperia and The Palmdale Aero- space Academy projects. Boron Junior- Senior High School is using robots to teach engineering and critical problem solving, while Hesperia High School is expanding its robotics team and includ- ing significantly more students in its program.
The Palmdale Aerospace Academy’s idea is to build a simulator that will demonstrate impaired driving by having students drive robots around a miniature
town. The course, robots and software will all be designed and built by acad- emy students who will then be able to measure perception and reaction times of the students using the simulator.
By extending the frontier of STEM education in the Antelope Valley, AFRL is looking for new engineers and scien- tists to grasp the cutting-edge technolo- gies that the United States will need in the future to maintain the nation’s influ- ence in the world, organizers say.
Dr. Richard Cohn, chief engineer of the AFRL Rocket Lab, said, “Inspir- ing students to pursue STEM is criti- cal for the future of our nation. Future advances in STEM are critical to solv- ing the world’s problems and without an inspired, motivated group of young people entering the field, we will surely be left behind. These programs provide a phenomenal opportunity for the young people of the Antelope Valley to be- come inspired to lead the charge.”
And while scientists and engineers are focusing on the future, they are also testing new rockets.
In May, AFRL and contractor Aerojet Rocketdyne achieved a major milestone under the Hydrocarbon Boost program, which is advancing domestic rocket engine technologies in support of next generation launch.
In April, the Hydrocarbon Boost program completed full power, full du- ration tests of the oxygen-rich staged combustion sub-scale preburner. Test- ing was conducted at the historic rocket Test Stand 2A at Edwards Air Force Base; the facility was first utilized to test the F-1 engine used to power Saturn V rockets in the Apollo program to reach the moon.
The sub-scale preburner test cam- paign accomplished the first demon- strations of several key rocket engine technologies, including the first use of Mondaloy 200 superalloy in a rocket en- gine environment and the first operation of a diluent type preburner. Demonstra- tion of Mondaloy 200, which was co- developed by Aerojet Rocketdyne and the AFRL Materials Directorate, was a critical step to proving the unique com- bination of high-strength and burn re- sistance necessary for hardware survival in the harsh ORSC rocket environment.
“These tests are a significant mile- stone for our program, but also just the
Air Force photograph by Ron Fair
Hydrocarbon Boost sub-scale preburner firing at full-power at Test Stand 2A, Air Force Research Laboratory April 21, 2016.
A closer look at the Hydrocarbon Boost sub-scale preburner firing at full- power at Test Stand 2A, Air Force Research Laboratory April 21, 2016.
Air Force photograph by Ron Fair
beginning of an effort to develop and transition the tools, components and knowledge needed for our customer and the U.S. rocket industry,” said Dr. Shawn Phillips, chief of the AFRL Rocket Propulsion Division.
The U.S. has a limited technology base in the high-performance ORSC rocket engine cycle. The United Launch Alliance Atlas V launch vehicle is pow- ered by Russian RD-180 rocket engines, which were developed based on decades of ORSC research and development in the former Soviet Union. Tensions with Russia spurred limits on future use of the RD-180 engines for national secu- rity launches and triggered increased U.S. government investment in ORSC technology for industry to use to pro- vide future launch services for National Security Space launch needs.
A key goal of the Hydrocarbon Boost Technology Demonstrator is to mature the technology readiness of ORSC en- gine components to advance the U.S. rocket technology base. This is also a key goal of the Booster Propulsion Technology Maturation projects led by the Air Force Space and Missile Sys- tems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base.
“DOD is absolutely committed to transitioning off the RD-180 as quickly as possible, while ensuring no impacts to national security. Programs such as BPTM are essential to achieving that objective while solidifying U.S. assured access to space and supporting the U.S. launch industry’s viability in the global market,” said Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves, SMC commander and Air Force pro- gram executive officer for Space.
Technology maturation and risk re- duction efforts are part of a comprehen- sive Air Force plan to transition off of the RD-180 engine. One of the BPTM project areas is to advance technology readiness through critical rocket engine component design, integration, and test. To this end, SMC augmented HCB
program funding to accelerate develop- ment of the HCB full-scale preburner and enable near-term U.S. demonstra- tions that are critical to overcome key ORSC challenges. These critical ORSC challenges include combustion instabil- ity, oxygen compatibility of materials in severe high pressure and temperature environments, and complex preburner startup and shutdown transients. The improved knowledge base, test results, and lessons learned in the HCB program and other BPTM activities are shared with the entire U.S. rocket propulsion community.
“An objective of this program is to help eliminate the United States’ reli- ance on foreign rocket propulsion tech- nology,” commented Maj. Gen. Tom Masiello, AFRL commander. ”This is key to ensuring our national security, and the people of the Rocket Propulsion Division are making impressive strides in achieving our goal.”
The highly instrumented HCB sub- scale preburner tests generated critical data for design and development of the full-scale preburner. Design and fabrica- tion of the full-scale ORSC Hydrocar- bon Boost preburner is underway. Pre- burner component level testing will be conducted at NASA Stennis Space Center prior to Hydrocarbon Boost in- tegrated engine testing at AFRL in the 2020 timeframe. Successful program completion will demonstrate national goals for the Rocket Propulsion for the 21st century program, which is co- chaired by the Office of the Secretary of Defense and NASA.
The HCB program continued test- ing throughout the year, and later in the year, the AFRL/Aerojet Rocketdyne tested the first full-scale component of the program.
The Hydrocarbon Boost Technology Demonstrator, a U.S. Air Force technol- ogy effort focused on development of Oxygen Rich Staged Combustion rocket engine technology, recently completed
its first full-scale component test at 100-percent power.
The development of Oxygen Rich Staged Combustion technology has been deemed a critical technology for the nation to help eliminate the United States’ reliance on foreign rocket pro- pulsion technology.
The testing was performed by Aero- jet Rocketdyne under contract to the Air Force Research Laboratory Rocket Pro- pulsion Division, nicknamed the AFRL Rocket Lab. The HBTD’s kick pump is the first full-scale component to com- mence testing.
The AFRL Rocket Lab recently com- pleted the test campaign of HBTD’s sub-scale preburner at its test facili- ties at Edwards Air Force Base in the same historic facility that tested the F-1 engine for the Project Apollo Saturn V program and RS-68 engines for the Delta IV expendable launch vehicle sys- tem. The kick pump was tested at Aero- jet Rocketdyne’s facility in Sacramento, Calif., which has been used continually through Titan missile, Apollo and space shuttle programs.
The kick pump is a complex tur- bopump assembly made up of both a turbine and pump, hence the term tur- bopump. It is designed to be extremely compact and rotates at punishing speeds to meet extraordinarily high efficiencies required for space access, even down to one-third of engine power levels — a severe challenge for current state-of-the- art turbopumps, system designers say.
The kick pump operates in excess of 75,000 rpm at its 100-percent power level. The component is a critical element of the engine as it “kicks” a vital portion of fuel up to the extremely high pressures demanded by other engine components, without requiring the engine to pump all the fuel to that pressure. This drastically reduces the size, weight, cost, and com- plexity of the engine.
See AFRL, Page 12
December 16, 2016
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