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The rumble and roar of rocket engine
testing has long been a mainstay activity of the John C. Stennis
Space Center. Arrays of Stennis propulsion test facilities are
in constant use, and for good reason. Mississippi-based Stennis
is NASA's lead center for testing large propulsion systems. Indeed,
every Space Shuttle astronaut rides on rocket engines tested
at Stennis. In October 1998, center engineers conducted the 2,000th
test of a Space Shuttle Main Engine.
Building on its role in engine and vehicle testing, which
spans 30 years and dates back to the Apollo lunar landing program,
Stennis is now helping to shape the future by assembling and
testing the RS-68 engine and first stage common booster core
for Boeing's new Delta 4 rocket. The RS-68 is the world's largest
liquid hydXXrogen and liquid oxygen engine. By way of a NASA and
industry partnership, propulsion test facilities at Stennis are
tapped for commercial use. Delta 4 is an Evolved Expendable Launch
Vehicle (EELV), a U.S. Air Force program that will produce the
next generation of unmanned launch vehicles for both civilian
and military use.
Another Stennis rocket engine test stand has been converted
and modified to test the X-33's linear aerospike engines, the
propulsion end of a partnership between NASA and industry to
develop Reusable Launch Vehicles (RLVs), designed to dramatically
cut the cost of putting payloads into Earth orbit. A Stennis
team began tests on critical elements of the aerospike motors,
leading up to full-scale engine tests in 1999. The X-33 is a
half-scale forerunner of a commercial version of an RLV, called
VentureStar, which is to be built by the Lockheed Martin Skunk
Works of Palmdale, California. VentureStar development will take
place early next century.
Other major engine development projects are also underway
at Stennis. Work is underway to ready for flight the 60,000-pound
thrust engine, called Fastrac. A single-stage main engine, Fastrac
burns a mixture of liquid oxygen and kerosene, powering the X-34
and the first stage of a small rocket booster for NASA's Low-Cost
Technologies program. Also, a 250,000-pound thrust hybrid rocket
motor is under evaluation. Hybrid rocket motors use an environmentally
safe, rubberized fuel and a liquid oxidizer. In this hybrid test
project, NASA and Lockheed Martin are conducting work through
a Space Act Agreement, a partnership where both parties bring
resources to the arrangement and both benefit from the effort.
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| A Space
Shuttle Main Engine test lights up the night sky at Stennis Space
Center. |
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Stennis is also working with small businesses under the Small
Business Technology Transfer Program, focusing on a high-accuracy
modular thrust measurement system, which is utilizing magnetic
bearings, along with looking into hydrocarbon-fueled rocket engine
health monitoring by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy.
While Stennis is busily working on rocket engines that hurl
payloads less expensively up above Earth, the center is also
engaged in commercial remote sensing activities that look downward
from space to scan the planet.
Stennis is NASA's lead center for commercial remote sensing
within the space agency's Earth Science Enterprise. The emerging
remote sensing industry is fast becoming a potential multibillion-dollar
force in the U.S. economy. In this regard, Stennis' Commercial
Remote Sensing Program (CRSP) office has partnered with industry
to help develop remote sensing technology. Remote sensing is
the ability to acquire and produce images of specific areas of
Earth using sensors mounted on aircraft or satellites. Benefits
include: determining the best time to irrigate and fertilize
crops; finding the most appropriate routes for highways; better
planning in the placement of utility lines; and assessing environmental
damage caused by oil spills and natural disasters.
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| The Commercial Remote Sensing
Program at Stennis assists numerous companies to enhance their
competitiveness. |
One project underway at CRSP, which began in 1998, is a phased
$50 million Science Data Buy, where 15 terabytes of data are
being purchased from 5 companies. This data will be available
for global environmental research within NASA's Earth Science
Enterprise. In the future, NASA will continue to purchase data
from the commercial sector and work to understand scientific
needs and industry concerns. By purchasing data from the private
sector, instead of developing, building, and launching new NASA
satellites, the space agency may be able to conduct and expand
its scientific investigations at a much lower cost, while encouraging
the growth of this economic area. CRSP is also providing the
remote sensing community with a comprehensive array of artificial
and natural ground targets, to help test commercial airborne
and spaceborne remote sensing systems against performance specifications
and customer needs.
In 1998, Stennis' Earth System Science Office continued a
study of Louisiana's Barataria Bay, researching the role of the
bay in the global carbon cycle. This research is expected to
yield new data with regard to shrimp and oyster production in
the bay. Furthermore, this study complements remote sensing studies
on the health of Lake Pontchartrain and the occurrence of red
tide along the Louisiana coast.
Stennis' Earth Observations Commercial Applications Program
works with business partners to demonstrate the market effectiveness
of new remote sensing products. This is exemplified by recent
projects to evaluate the commercial potential of synthetic aperture
radar, as well as uses and benefits of hyperspectral data.
"As we face the changing times ahead and approach the
new millennium, we intend to build on the accomplishments of
a great foundation with a renewed focus," explains Stennis
director Roy S. Estess. "Stennis Space Center will continue
partnering with industry, government, and academia to provide
our nation a return on its investment in the human exploration
and development of space, as well as in our national defense,
economic competitiveness, and study of the environment."
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