yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) (02/28/91)
Mark Hess/Ed Campion
Headquarters, Washington, D.C. February 27, 1991
(Phone: 202/453-8536)
Mike Simmons
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
(Phone: 205/544-0034)
Myron Webb
Stennis Space Center, Miss.
(Phone: 601/688-3341)
RELEASE: 91-36
FIRST NEW SHUTTLE MAIN ENGINE TURBOPUMP TESTED
Test personnel at NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center,
Miss., conducted a 1.5-second ignition test on a new turbopump
developed by Pratt & Whitney for the Space Shuttle Main
Engine.
The test occurred Thursday, Feb. 21, on the B-1 test stand
at Stennis. The firing signaled the first engine test of Pratt &
Whitney's new Alternate Turbopump Development Program for
NASA. The pump was tested on a research and development
Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME).
Pratt & Whitney's Alternate Turbopump Development
Program has been underway since 1986. The company is now
working in a partnership with Rocketdyne Division of Rockwell
International, Canoga Park, Calif., on the test program for the
new pumps. NASA's Glenn Dill, resident manager of NASA's
Marshall Space Flight Center Shuttle Project Office at Stennis,
said the current SSME test program will continue to be
conducted by Rocketdyne under NASA's management.
Earl White, resident manager of the Pratt & Whitney
office at Stennis, said another liquid oxygen pump and a high-
pressure fuel pump will soon arrive at Stennis for testing.
White said that he expects to have enough pumps by June to
occupy both the B-1 and A-1 test stands at Stennis.
The pumps feature improvements in materials and in the
fabrication process and take advantage of newer design
technology. They differ from current SSME turbopumps in that
they are manufactured using castings instead of sheet metal.
This is expected to reduce maintenance and increase
operational life of the pumps. Current Space Shuttle Main
Engine hardware was designed in the early 1970s. Pratt &
Whitney expects the new pumps to fly in 1993.
Pratt & Whitney established a resident office at Stennis
Space Center in October 1990 to support development testing
of the newly-designed turbopumps. White now has a staff of
six on board with anticipation of a 15- to 20-member staff by
the end of the year. Pratt & Whitney's main test facility for
government projects is in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Stennis Space Center is NASA's facility for testing all
Space Shuttle Main Engines that power the orbiter during its
first 8 1/2 minutes of flight.