Second magnetic levitation track installed at NASA Marshall A second magnetic levitation track is up and running at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. The experimental track, designed and built by Foster-Miller Inc. of Waltham, Mass., was installed inside a high-bay facility at the Marshall Center this month. Marshall's Advanced Space Transportation Program is developing magnetic levitation -- or maglev -- technologies that could give a space launch vehicle a "running start" to break free from Earth's gravity. A maglev launch system would use magnetic fields to levitate and accelerate a vehicle along a track at speeds up to 600 mph. The vehicle would shift to rocket engines for launch to orbit. Maglev systems could dramatically reduce the cost of getting to space because they're powered by electricity, an inexpensive energy source that stays on the ground -- unlike rocket fuel that adds weight and cost to a launch vehicle.
The Foster-Miller experimental track accelerates a carrier to 57 mph at its peak -- traveling 22 feet in 1/4 second, the equivalent of 10 times the acceleration of gravity. The tabletop track is 44 feet long, with 22 feet of powered acceleration and 22 feet of passive braking. A 10-pound carrier with permanent magnets on its sides swiftly glides by copper coils, producing a levitation force. The track uses a linear synchronous motor, which means the track is synchronized to turn the coils on just before the carrier comes in contact with them, and off once the carrier passes. Sensors are positioned on the side of the track to determine the carrier's position so the appropriate drive coils can be energized. Engineers are conducting tests on the indoor track and a 50-foot outdoor maglev track installed at Marshall last September by NASA and industry partner PRT Advanced Maglev Systems Inc. of Park Forest, Ill. The testing is expected to help engineers better understand magl ev vehicle dynamics, the interface between a carrier and its launch vehicle and how to separate the vehicle from the carrier for launch. Future work on large systems will be led by NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
Photos: http://www1.msfc.nasa.gov/NEWSROOM/news/photos/2000/photos00-023.htm
Video: http://www.msfc.nasa.gov/news/MaglevB-Roll.mov
Maglev Technology Summary: http://www.msfc.nasa.gov/news/astptechbriefs/Maglev.pdf
NASA Marshall investigates new turbomachinery technology
Engineers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., recently completed a series of tests on a ceramic matrix composite turbine that could lead to improved turbomachinery in rocket engines. In a typical rocket engine, the turbine -- a metallic disk with separately attached blades -- provides power to the pumps that pressurize the propellants. The faster the turbine spins, the more power it transmits to the pumps. The blades for the ceramic matrix composite turbine are machined directly into the material, making a bladed disk -- called a blisk. Ceramic blisks can withstand much higher temperatures than metal disks and are rugged enough to tolerate damage, such as small cracks.
The blisks Marshall used in testing are 7.6 inches in diameter and about 3/4 inch thick and were manufactured by Allied Signal Composites Inc. of Newark, Del. They're composed of woven carbon fibers with a silicon carbide matrix, similar in construction to multiple layers of cloth filled with an extremely strong starch. The blisks were tested at Marshall in a turbopump, a turbine powered pump, at 25,000 revolutions per minute -- about 10 times the average rpm of a car engine. Dozens of tests were conducted over the last few months with an average test duration of about six minutes. As a result of these tests the blades were loaded and unloaded at a very high speed about 6 million times. The tests demonstrated the durability of the blisks and the ability to mechanically join a ceramic blisk to a metallic shaft. The blisks could increase rocket engine performance and efficiency and may be considered for reusable launch vehicles of the future.
Marshall Center transportation director addresses space technology forum Dr. Row Rogacki, manager of the Space Transportation Directorate at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., is speaking at the Space Technology and Applications International Forum 2000. Co-sponsored by NASA, the conference is being held in Albuquerque, N.M., Jan. 30-Feb. 3. The theme is "Bridging the Future -- Space Station and Beyond." Rogacki is discussing next-generation space transportation systems and technologies being developed for new civil and commercial space missions. Numerous Marshall Center engineers and scientists are to lead sessions and present technical papers on advanced propulsion research, including space sails and other concepts for interstellar travel.
Rogacki Photo: http://www1.msfc.nasa.gov/NEWSROOM/news/photos/2000/photos00-023.htm Biographical data: http://CaER.msfc.nasa.gov/Bios/rogacki.htm
Note to Editors: The Advanced Space Transportation Media Update is a regular progress report to keep you informed about technology development activity at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. As NASA's Lead Center for Space Transportation Systems Development, Marshall is pushing technologies that will dramatically increase the safety and reliability and reduce the cost of space transportation. Interviews or materials supporting this Media Update are available to media representatives by contacting June Malone of the Marshall Media Relations Department at (256) 544-0034. For an electronic version of this release, digital images or more information, visit Marshall's News Center on the Web at: http://www.msfc.nasa.gov/news For more information on Marshall's space transportation activities, visit: http://www.highway2space.com