When was the J-2 rocket engine built?
Rocketdyne J-2
The J-2 was a liquid-fuel cryogenic rocket engine used on NASA's Saturn IB and Saturn V launch vehicles. Built in the U.S. by Rocketdyne, the J-2 burned cryogenic liquid hydrogen (LH2) and liquid oxygen (LOX) propellants, with each engine producing of thrust in vacuum. The engine's preliminary design dates back to recommendations of the 1959 Silverstein Committee. Rocketdyne won approval to develop the J-2 in June 1960 and the first flight, AS-201, occurred on 26 February 1966. The J-2 underwent several minor upgrades over its operational history to improve the engine's performance, with two major upgrade programs, the de Laval nozzle-type J-2S and aerospike-type J-2T, which were cancelled after the conclusion of the Apollo program.
Aerospike engine
Rocketdyne conducted a lengthy series of tests in the 1960s on various designs. Later models of these engines were based on their highly reliable J-2 engine machinery and provided the same sort of thrust levels as the conventional engines they were based on; 200,000 lbf (890 kN) in the J-2T-200k, and 250,000 lbf (1.1 MN) in the J-2T-250k (the T refers to the toroidal combustion chamber). Thirty years later their work was dusted off again for use in NASA's X-33 project. In this case the slightly upgraded J-2S engine machinery was used with a linear spike, creating the XRS-2200. After more development and considerable testing, this project was cancelled when the X-33's composite fuel tanks repeatedly failed.
V-2 missile launch site, Blizna
In early March 1944 British Intelligence Headquarters received a report of an Armia Krajowa agent (code name: "Makara") who had covertly surveyed the Blizna railway line and observed a freight car heavily guarded by SS troops containing "an object which, though covered by a tarpaulin, bore every resemblance to a monstrous torpedo". Subsequently, a plan was formed to make an attempt to capture a whole unexploded V-2 rocket and transport it to Britain. The plan was to stop the train in the forested area between Brzeskie and Tarnów.
Despite meticulous planning by Armia Krajowa, the security on the German supply trains had been increased dramatically and the plan had to be called off at the last minute, as it had become unfeasible. Around 20 May 1944, a relatively undamaged V-2 rocket fell on the swampy bank of the Bug River near the village of Sarnaki, south of Siemiatycze, and local Poles managed to hide it before Germans arrived. The rocket was then dismantled and smuggled across Poland. During the night of 25–26 July 1944, the Polish resistance (Home Army and V1 and V2) secretly transported parts of the rocket out of Poland in Operation Most III (BridgeIII or WildhornIII), for analysis by British Intelligence. The missile fragments were picked up by an American C-47 Dakota aeroplane from an AK agent (code name: "Motyl") in an abandoned airfield between the villages of Jadowniki Mokre and Wał-Ruda, near Żabno, at the junction of the Dunajec and Wisła rivers, Poland.
On 13 July 1944, the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill wrote a letter to Joseph Stalin, informing him about the German V-2 missiles being tested in Blizna. In his letter, Churchill asked Stalin to instruct his troops, who were about away from Dębica, to search for and preserve safely any apparatus and installations found at the base after it was captured by the advancing Soviet Army. He also asked Stalin to allow British experts to visit Dębica to examine the missile base. Stalin granted Churchill's requests; however, at the same time he instructed his army intelligence and USSR State Defense Committee People's Commissar for Aviation Industry, Alexei Shakhurin, to get ready for the examination of the German missiles. Shakhurin was ordered to have his weaponry experts in Dębica long before the British arrived. In late July 1944, the advance of the Red Army forced the Germans to evacuate the base at Blizna, and launch activities were moved to the Tuchola Forest. The Red Army reached Blizna on 6 August 1944, about ten days after the Germans had moved out. Many of the first remnants of V-2 missiles were recovered by troops of the 60th Army commanded by General Pavel Alekseyevich Kurochkin. British intelligence agents were eventually granted access to the launch site in September 1944. Their mission was to collect as many remaining rocket parts and as much intel on the site as they could. By then, the Red Army had already cleared out most of what the Germans had left and had shipped it to the Soviet Union, following Stalin's instructions. However, the British did manage to fill several crates with some useful V-2 rocket parts, which were then transported to England with the full co-operation of the Soviets. When the crates were opened in London, they did not have the expected contents; instead, they contained old rusty truck and tank parts, which had probably been substituted by Soviet agents.
Tupolev Tu-2
Built from 1941 to 1948, the Tu-2 was the USSR's second most important twin-engine bomber (the first being the Pe-2). The design brought Andrei Tupolev back into favour after a period of detention. Crews were universally happy with their Tupolevs. Pilots could maneuver the aircraft like a fighter, it could survive heavy damage, and it was fast. The Tu-2 remained in service in the USSR until 1950.
Explorer 1
Explorer 1 was designed and built by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), while a Jupiter-C rocket was modified by the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) to accommodate a satellite payload; the resulting rocket known as the Juno I. The Jupiter-C design used for the launch had already been flight-tested in nose cone reentry tests for the Jupiter IRBM, and was modified into Juno I. Working closely together, ABMA and JPL completed the job of modifying the Jupiter-C and building Explorer 1 in 84 days. However, before work was completed, the Soviet Union launched a second satellite, Sputnik 2, on November 3, 1957. The U.S. Navy's attempt to put the first U.S. satellite into orbit failed with the launch of the Vanguard TV3 on December 6, 1957.
Aerojet General X-8
Towards the end of World War II, the US Army and the California Institute of Technology's Jet Propulsion Laboratory had developed a meteorological sounding rocket, the WAC Corporal. The U.S. Army had also captured enough parts to assemble perhaps 100 German V-2 guided missiles. The Army determined that its Project Hermes would be extended to assemble and launch a number of the V-2s for military, technological and scientific purposes. Many of the V-2 components were damaged or useless. Thus the initial intent of the Army was to launch only 20 missiles.
Piper J-5
Throughout World War II, Piper modified the basic structure of the J-5A. The J-5B had a 75 h.p. Lycoming GO-145-C2 engine. The later J-5C also built as the HE-1 (later AE-1) ambulance for the U.S. Navy with rear hinged fuselage decking, used the fully cowled 100 h.p. Lycoming Military O-235-2 or Civilian O-235-B engine with an electrical system, and redesigned landing gear.
After the war, Piper dropped the J- designation system in exchange for the PA- system, and the J-5C became the PA-12 "Super Cruiser". The Super Cruiser was more popular than the basic J-5A, with 3,759 being built.
Oldsmobile V8 engine
Introduced in the middle of the 1957 model year, the 1957 and 1958 J-2 Golden Rocket had three two-barrel (twin choke) carburetors with a vacuum-operated linkage. Only the center carburetor was mechanically connected to the throttle pedal, and it was the only one equipped with a choke. When the center carburetor was opened to 60° or more engine vacuum drawn from the windshield wiper pump would simultaneously open the front and rear carburetors. These carburetors did not open progressively; they were either open or closed. The J-2 engine also had a slightly thinner head gasket, raising compression to 10.0:1. It was advertised with gross power and torque ratings of at 4600 rpm and at 2800 rpm. Oldsmobile charged $83 for the J-2 option with the three-speed manual (or in the 98), $314 dollars with the automatic.
McCulloch J-2
It was designed by Drago Jovanovich and first flew in June 1962. McCulloch acquired the design in 1969 and put it into production, building 83 aircraft over the next three years. They were reported to sell for US$15,900.
V-2 rocket
On 22 December 1942, Hitler signed the order for mass production, when Speer assumed final technical data would be ready by July 1943. However, many issues still remained to be solved even by the autumn of 1943.
Rocketdyne J-2
Start sequence was initiated by supplying energy to two spark plugs in the gas generator and two in the augmented spark igniter for ignition of the propellants. Next, two solenoid valves were actuated; one for helium control, and one for ignition phase control. Helium was routed to hold the propellant bleed valves closed and to purge the thrust chamber LOX dome, the LOX pump intermediate seal, and the gas generator oxidizer passage. In addition, the main fuel and ASI oxidizer valves were opened, creating an ignition flame in the ASI chamber that passed through the center of the thrust chamber injector.
Rocketdyne J-2
The thrust chamber was constructed of thick stainless steel tubes, stacked longitudinally and furnace-brazed to form a single unit. The chamber was bell-shaped with a 27.5:1 expansion area ratio for efficient operation at altitude, and was regeneratively cooled by the fuel. Fuel entered from a manifold, located midway between the thrust chamber throat and the exit, at a pressure of more than . In cooling the chamber, the fuel made a one-half pass downward through 180 tubes and was returned in a full pass up to the thrust chamber injector through 360 tubes. Once propellants passed through the injector, they were ignited by the augmented spark igniter and burned to impart a high velocity to the expelled combustion gases to produce thrust.
Diesel fuel
During development of rocket engines in Germany during World War II J-2 Diesel fuel was used as the fuel component in several engines including the BMW 109-718. J-2 diesel fuel was also used as a fuel for gas turbine engines.
V-2 missile launch site, Blizna
After the air raid on Peenemünde on 17 August 1943, German strategic command decided to divide the work on the V-2 rocket among three independently operating centres. Assembly plants were transferred to underground factories that had been built in a massive hollow cave complex in the Harz mountains in Germany. The research, development, and design (codenamed "Project Cement") were handled by secret offices in Ebensee, near the banks of Lake Traunsee in Austria. The main rocket testing, training, and launch site was transferred to Blizna in southeast Poland, outside of the range of Allied bombers. An SS military base near Blizna was set up on 5 November 1943, from which 139 A4 (also known as V-2) rockets were launched for experimental purposes and for training. The site was operational until early July 1944. Test launches also continued at Peenemünde until 21 February 1945.
John C. Stennis Space Center
These two test stands tested and flight-certified S-II stages and J-2 engines until the end of the Apollo program in the early 1970s.
Rocketdyne J-2
The thrust chamber injector received the propellants under pressure from the turbopumps, then mixed them in a manner that produced the most efficient combustion. 614 hollow oxidizer posts were machined to form an integral part of the injector, with fuel nozzles (each swaged to the face of the injector) threaded through and installed over the oxidizer posts in concentric rings. The injector face was porous, being formed from layers of stainless steel wire mesh, and was welded at its periphery to the injector body. The injector received LOX through the dome manifold and injected it through the oxidizer posts into the combustion area of the thrust chamber, while fuel was received from the upper fuel manifold in the thrust chamber and injected through the fuel orifices which were concentric with the oxidizer orifices. The propellants were injected uniformly to ensure satisfactory combustion. The injector and oxidizer dome assembly was located at the top of the thrust chamber. The dome provided a manifold for the distribution of the LOX to the injector and served as a mount for the gimbal bearing and the augmented spark igniter.
Saturn II
The Saturn INT-17 was the first version of the Saturn II to be considered. It replaced the first stage's five J-2 engines with seven higher thrust HG-3-SL engines, giving of sea level thrust. It would burn a reduced S-II propellant load of in 200 seconds. The vehicle had a LEO payload capability of with a gross weight of . The reduced payload permitted a savings of in structural weight, and omitting the S-IVB restart capability saved .
Saturn C-2
The original Saturn C-2 design (1959-1960) was a four-stage launch vehicle, using an S-I first stage using eight Rocketdyne H-1 engines, later flown on the Saturn I. The Army's original design used the S-III stage with two J-2 engines as the second stage; after the Saturn program was transferred to NASA, the second stage was replaced with an S-II second stage using four J-2 engines. The S-III stage would have been added atop the S-II, to convert the C-2 into the five-stage Saturn C-3. Later, a fifth J-2 engine was added to the S-II stage to be used on the Saturn C-5, which eventually was developed as the Saturn V launch vehicle.
Shvetsov ASh-82
Arkadiy Shvetsov re-engineered the Wright Cyclone design, through the OKB-19 design bureau he headed, for Russian aviation engine manufacturing practices and metric dimensions and fasteners, reducing the stroke, dimensions and weight. This allowed the engine to be used in light aircraft, where an American-design Twin Cyclone, of some 930 kg (2,045 lb) weight in "dry" condition could not be installed. It entered production in 1940 and saw service in a number of Soviet aircraft. It powered the Tupolev Tu-2 and Pe-8 bombers and the inline engine-powered LaGG-3 was adapted for the ASh-82 producing the famous Lavochkin La-5 fighter and its development, Lavochkin La-7, additionally the Lavochkin La-9 with its Lavochkin La-11 escort variant and Ilyushin Il-14 airliner were created around the engine. Over 70,000 ASh-82s were built. They were built in the 1950s to 1960s era under licence, both in Czechoslovakia (as the M-82) by the Walter (Motorlet) factory in Prague-Jinonice and in the German Democratic Republic by the VEB Industriewerke Karl-Marx-Stadt.
Rocketdyne J-2
This system was made up of an integral helium and hydrogen start tank, which contained the hydrogen and helium gases for starting and operating the engine. The gaseous hydrogen imparted initial spin to the turbines and pumps prior to gas generator combustion, and the helium was used in the control system to sequence the engine valves. The spherical helium tank was positioned inside the hydrogen tank to minimize engine complexity. It held of helium. The larger spherical hydrogen gas tank had a capacity of . Both tanks were filled from a ground source prior to launch and the gaseous hydrogen tank was refilled during engine operation from the thrust chamber fuel inlet manifold for subsequent restart in third stage application.
JL-2
The first JL-2 at-sea launch occurred in 2001 from a Type 031 submarine. The program was delayed after a failed test in 2004. Successful launches occurred in 2005 and 2008. The missile was successfully fired from a Type 094 submarine, the intended operational platform, for the first time in 2009. A series of test launches occurred in 2012. Another test launch occurred in January 2015.
Republic-Ford JB-2
The U.S. Army Air Forces continued development of the JB-2 as Project MX-544, with two versions — one with preset internal guidance and another with radar control. Several launch platforms were developed, including permanent and portable ramps, and mobile launching from beneath the wings of Boeing B-17G or Boeing B-29 bombers, much as the Heinkel He 111H-22 had for the Luftwaffe in offensive air-launches of V-1s against the Allies. Testing continued from 1944 to 1947 at Eglin to improve launch and guidance.
YF-100
A high efficiency/high thrust environmentally-friendly rocket engine was always an objective within Programme 863 in the 1980s; however, Chinese industry was not mature enough at that time to produce such a rocket until they obtained RD-120 in the early 1990 from Russia following the collapse of the USSR.
It is the first Chinese rocket engine to adopt the staged-combustion cycle and the most powerful to date. During July 2012 the engine fired for 200 seconds generating of thrust. On May 28, 2012, the National Defense Science and Industry Bureau certified the engine.
GE Aviation
Development funds were allotted in 1946 for a more powerful version of the same design, the TG-190. This engine finally emerged as the famed General Electric J47, which saw great demand for several military aircraft; a second manufacturing facility near Cincinnati was opened. J47 production ran to 30,000 engines by the time the lines closed down in 1956. Further development of the J47 by Patrick Clarke in 1957 led to the J73, and from there into the much more powerful J79. The J79 was GE's second "hit", leading to a production run of 17,000 in several different countries. The GE and Lockheed team that developed the J79 and the F-104 Mach 2 fighter aircraft received the 1958 Collier Trophy for outstanding technical achievement in aviation. Other successes followed, including the T58, and T64 turboshaft engines, J85 and F404 turbojets.
Rocketdyne J-2
The J-2's thrust chamber assembly served as a mount for all engine components, and was composed of the thrust chamber body, injector and dome assembly, gimbal bearing assembly, and augmented spark igniter.
La Coupole
The V-2 rocket was one of several innovative long-range weapons developed by the Germans after the failure of the Luftwaffe to strike a decisive blow against Britain. It was a revolutionary weapon – the world's first operational SRBM – that had been developed in a secret programme begun in 1936. The German leadership hoped that a barrage of rockets unleashed against London would force Britain out of the war. Although Adolf Hitler was at first ambivalent, he eventually became an enthusiastic supporter of the V-2 programme as Allied air forces carried out increasingly devastating attacks on German cities.
Zenit (rocket family)
The Zenit-2 was the first member of the rocket family. It consists of two stages. The first uses an RD-171 engine, and an RD-120 engine powers the second stage. It first flew on 13 April 1985, carrying a Tselina-2 mass simulator. However the test flight was unsuccessful. The first successful flight occurred on 22 October 1985.
Saturn V
The S-II was built by North American Aviation at Seal Beach, California. Using liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, it had five Rocketdyne J-2 engines in a similar arrangement to the S-IC, also using the outer engines for control. The S-II was tall with a diameter of , identical to the S-IC, and thus was the largest cryogenic stage until the launch of the Space Shuttle in 1981. The S-II had a dry weight of about and fully fueled, weighed . The second stage accelerated the Saturn V through the upper atmosphere with of thrust in vacuum.
Piper J-4
The fuselage of the J-4 was wider than the J-3 and the aircraft had a fully enclosed rear decking to the fuselage top. The first J-4s had a Continental 50 hp A50 engine with upward-facing exhaust ports, an open cowl, oil and spring landing gear, a modified tail wheel system and many other changes. The early J-4 had a comfortable cockpit but was slower than most side by side aircraft of the day. 
The 1940 J-4A gained a fully enclosed cowling, a Continental 65 hp A65 engine, and aft auxiliary fuel. The J-4B was fitted with a 60 hp Franklin 4AC-171 engine. The final version was the 1941 J-4E which sported a 75 hp Continental engine and redesigned interior. The main fuel tank was moved to the wing along with a header tank. Performance was now on par with similar contemporary types, but the attack on Pearl Harbor sealed its fate as all civilian aircraft manufacture came to a stop with the entry of the United States into World War II.
Space Age
Also referred to as the A-4 rocket in Germany, the V-2 rocket was introduced by the German army nearing the end of the war. Fueled by burning a mixture of liquid oxygen and alcohol, the V-2 was capable of 3,500 miles per hour. With an effective range of 200 miles with an approximate arch of 60 miles, the V-2 missile was capable of striking at Southern England from bases in the low land countries. Roughly 3,200 – 3,600 V-2 missiles were deployed against Allied targets during the course of the war, with about 25% of all missiles launched failing due to air bursts.
Mitsubishi J8M
The Ki-200 and the J8M1 differed only in minor items, but the most obvious difference was the JAAF's Ki-200 was armed with two 30 mm (1.18 in) Type 5 cannon (with a rate of fire of 450 rounds per minute and a muzzle velocity of , while the J8M1 was armed with two 30 mm (1.18 in) Ho-105 cannon (rate of fire 400 rounds per minute, muzzle velocity . The Ho-105 was the lighter of the two and both offered a higher velocity than the MK 108 cannon of the Me 163 (whose muzzle velocity was .
The Toko Ro.2 (KR10) rocket motor did not offer the same thrust rating as the original, and Mitsubishi calculated that the lighter weight of the J8M1 would not offset this. Performance would not be as good as that of the "Komet", but was still substantial.
Saturn V
On January 10, 1962, NASA announced plans to build the C-5. The three-stage rocket would consist of: the S-IC first stage, with five F-1 engines; the S-II second stage, with five J-2 engines; and the S-IVB third stage, with a single J-2 engine. The C-5 was designed for a payload capacity to the Moon.
Rocketdyne J-2
Unlike most liquid-fueled rocket engines in service at the time, the J-2 was designed to be restarted once after shutdown when flown on the Saturn V S-IVB third stage. The first burn, lasting about two minutes, placed the Apollo spacecraft into a low Earth parking orbit. After the crew verified that the spacecraft was operating nominally, the J-2 was re-ignited for translunar injection, a 6.5 minute burn which accelerated the vehicle to a course for the Moon.
LE-5
The LE-5 liquid rocket engine and its derivative models were developed in Japan to meet the need for an upper stage propulsion system for the H-I and H-II series of launch vehicles. It is a bipropellant design, using LH2 and LOX. Primary design and production work was carried out by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. In terms of liquid rockets, it is a fairly small engine, both in size and thrust output, being in the 89 kN (20,000 lbf) and the more recent models the 130 kN (30,000 lbf) thrust class. The motor is capable of multiple restarts, due to a spark ignition system as opposed to the single use pyrotechnic or hypergolic igniters commonly used on some contemporary engines. Though rated for up to 16 starts and 40+ minutes of firing time, on the H-II the engine is considered expendable, being used for one flight and jettisoned. It is sometimes started only once for a nine-minute burn, but in missions to GTO the engine is often fired a second time to inject the payload into the higher orbit after a temporary low Earth orbit has been established.
Rocketdyne
Rocketdyne also became the major supplier for NASA's development efforts, supplying all of the major engines for the Saturn rocket (and potentially, the huge Nova rocket designs). Rocketdyne's H-1 engine was used by the Saturn I booster main stage. Five F-1 engines powered the Saturn V's, S-IC, first stage, while five J-2 engines powered its S-II second stage, and one J-2 the S-IVB third stages. By 1965, Rocketdyne built the vast majority of US rocket engines, excepting those of the Titan rocket, and its payroll had grown to 65,000. This sort of growth appeared to be destined to continue in the 1970s when Rocketdyne won the contract for the Space Shuttle Main Engine. But the rapid downturn in other military and civilian contracts led to downsizing of the company. North American Aviation, largely a spacecraft manufacturer, and also tied almost entirely to the Space Shuttle, merged with the Rockwell Corporation in 1966 to form the North American Rockwell company, which became Rockwell International in 1973, with Rocketdyne as a major division.
V-2 rocket
Following successes at Kummersdorf with the first two Aggregate series rockets, Wernher von Braun and Walter Riedel began thinking of a much larger rocket in the summer of 1936, based on a projected thrust engine.
Stewart M-2
The M-2 was an all-metal, twin-engined aircraft with conventional landing gear, powered with Wright J-6 engines. 225 hp Packard DR-980 engines were later installed and tested. Townend rings were used on the re-installed Wright J-6 engines.
S-1 (satellite)
In an investigation conducted after the launch failure, it was found that the short circuit occurred between two diodes in the rocket's power supply inverter voltage regulator, cutting off power to the guidance system and causing a full gimbal. Circuit board designs for the Juno II, and similar rockets, subsequently used conformal coating to reduce the chances for a recurrence. The launch, described by commentators as "infamous" and "one of the most spectacular failures ever seen at [Cape Canaveral]", was the third of the Juno II rocket, after it failed to carry "Pioneer 3" into heliocentric orbit in December 1958, but succeeded in the same objective in March 1959, carrying the United States' first interplanetary mission, "Pioneer 4". "S-1" was the first geocentric orbit launch attempt for the rocket; its second attempt on August 14, 1959, carrying the "Beacon 2" inflatable sphere experiment to low Earth orbit, also failed. Eventually, both the Juno II and a re-launch of the "S-1" mission, designated "Explorer 7" or "S-1A", found success on October 13, 1959. The satellite, which ended its mission in August 1961, is still orbiting the Earth today.
Pratt &amp; Whitney J52
The Pratt & Whitney J52 (company designation JT8A) is an axial-flow dual-spool turbojet engine originally designed for the United States Navy, in the 9,000 lbf-class. It powered the A-6 Intruder and the AGM-28 Hound Dog cruise missile. The engine is still in use in 2017 in models of the A-4 Skyhawk and the EA-6B Prowler.
Soko G-2 Galeb
The Soko G-2 Galeb () is a Yugoslav single engine, two-seater jet trainer and light ground-attack aircraft. The G-2 was developed during the 1950s by the Aeronautical Technical Institute at Žarkovo as a replacement for the Lockheed T-33 in service with the Yugoslav Air Force ( – RV i PVO). Production started in 1965 at the Soko aircraft factory in Mostar, and ended in 1985 with 248 aircraft delivered. The G-2 had the distinction of being the first mass-produced jet aircraft in socialist Yugoslavia. It also served as a basis for the single-seat ground-attack J-21 Jastreb.
V-2 rocket
By late 1941, the Army Research Center at Peenemünde possessed the technologies essential to the success of the A-4. The four key technologies for the A-4 were large liquid-fuel rocket engines, supersonic aerodynamics, gyroscopic guidance and rudders in jet control. At the time, Adolf Hitler was not particularly impressed by the V-2; he pointed out that it was merely an artillery shell with a longer range and much higher cost.
Nuclear thermal rocket
Where formula_7 is the initial mass with fuel, formula_8 the final mass without it, and "V" is as above. The total empty mass of the J-2 powered S-IVB was 13,311 kg, of which about 1,600 kg was the J-2 engine. Removing the inter-tank bulkhead to improve hydrogen storage would likely lighten this somewhat, perhaps to 10,500 kg for the tankage alone. The baseline NERVA designs were about 15,000 lb, or 6,800 kg, making the total unfueled mass (formula_8) of a "drop-in" S-IVB replacement around 17,300 kg. The lighter weight of the fuel more than makes up for the increase in engine weight; whereas the fueled mass (formula_7) of the original S-IVB was 119,900 kg, for the nuclear-powered version this drops to only 38,600 kg.
AIR-2 Genie
The Douglas AIR-2 Genie (previous designation MB-1 and also known as the blivet) was an unguided air-to-air rocket with a 1.5 kt W25 nuclear warhead. It was deployed by the United States Air Force (USAF 1957–1985) and Canada (Royal Canadian Air Force 1965–68, Air Command 1968–84) during the Cold War. Production ended in 1962 after over 3,000 were made, with some related training and test derivatives being produced later.
V-2 rocket
Two test launches were recovered by the Allies: the Bäckebo rocket, the remnants of which landed in Sweden on 13 June 1944 and one recovered by the Polish resistance on 30 May 1944 from Blizna and transported to the UK during Operation Most III. The highest altitude reached during the war was (20 June 1944). Test launches of V-2 rockets were made at Peenemünde, Blizna and Tuchola Forest, and after the war, at Cuxhaven by the British, White Sands Proving Grounds and Cape Canaveral by the U.S., and Kapustin Yar by the USSR.
Delta-K
The Delta-K has a long heritage to the first Able stage used in Project Vanguard. The AJ-10 engine was first used in the Able second stage of the Vanguard rocket, as the AJ10-118 configuration. It was initially fueled by nitric acid and UDMH. An AJ10 engine was first fired in flight during the third Vanguard launch, on 17 March 1958, which successfully placed the Vanguard 1 satellite into orbit.
Rocketdyne J-2
Like the J-2S, work on the J-2T had progressed to a lengthy series of ground-based test runs, but further development ended in the post-Apollo draw-down.
Space Age
Referred to as the most important rocket developer during the twentieth century, Dr. Wernher von Braun worked first for Germany, and later the United States. He first joined the German Society for Space Travel in 1928 and later joined the German army in 1932 to develop liquid-fuel rockets. He and his teams’ work on the V-2 rocket became the basis for both the United States’ and the Soviet Unions’ intercontinental ballistic missiles and later space programs.
Rocketdyne J-2
The control system included a pneumatic system and a solid-state electrical sequence controller packaged with spark exciters for the gas generator and the thrust chamber spark plugs, plus interconnecting electrical cabling and pneumatic lines, in addition to the flight instrumentation system. The pneumatic system consisted of a high-pressure helium gas storage tank, a regulator to reduce the pressure to a usable level, and electrical solenoid control valves to direct the central gas to the various pneumatically controlled valves. The electrical sequence controller was a completely self-contained, solid-state system, requiring only DC power and start and stop command signals. Pre-start status of all critical engine control functions was monitored in order to provide an "engine ready" signal. Upon obtaining "engine ready" and "start" signals, solenoid control valves were energized in a precisely timed sequence to bring the engine through ignition, transition, and into main-stage operation. After shutdown, the system automatically reset for a subsequent restart.
Junkers J 2
The J 2 differed from the J 1 in having a cowling that almost entirely enclosed the engine, a rounded upper and lower fuselage section instead of the rectangular section of the J 1., and a narrower and deeper ventral radiator enclosure, and had a horizontal stabilizer planform shape that would become familiar on later, all-duralumin Junkers monoplane designs to be built during 1917-18. The "all-moving" rudder still possessed no fixed fin, like the J 1. A faired-in headrest was provided for, as well as the possibly pioneering appearance of a "roll bar" for an open-cockpit aircraft, placed above the headrest for additional pilot protection in case of the aircraft overturning during landing. The landing gear was of the usual vee-type, but taller than that of the J 1's, and having the upper ends of the legs anchored not onto the lower longerons as on the J 1, but to the first wing rib bay beyond the wing root, with a long tailskid that emerged from the lower rear fuselage directly below the stabilizer's leading edge root. The wings had at least three different airfoil changes between root and tip, and had sections of them electrically roll-welded for stronger, more continuous bonding for greater strength. The resulting aircraft was intended to be smaller than the J 1 demonstrator, but with its steel structure, it almost equalled the J 1's completed weight.
1st Experimental Guided Missiles Group
The 1st regrouped its activities after Operation Sandstone, and it spent several months preparing a detachment to depart for cold weather testing of the JB-2 flying bomb in Alaska in November 1948. The Republic-Ford JB-2 was a United States copy of the World War II German V-1 flying bomb. Developed in 1944, it was extensively tested at Eglin Field. It was planned to be used in the United States invasion of Japan (Operation Downfall), however with the sudden end of the war, the JB-2 was never used in combat. It was the forerunner of the family of United States Guided Missiles.
Rocketdyne J-2
What became a different engine with a similar name, called the J-2X, was chosen in 2007 for the Project Constellation manned lunar landing program. A single J-2X engine,generating of thrust, was to be used to power the Earth Departure Stage (EDS).
Rocketdyne J-2
The engine produced a specific impulse ("I") of in a vacuum (or at sea level) and had a mass of approximately . Five J-2 engines were used on the Saturn V's S-II second stage, and one J-2 was used on the S-IVB upper stage used on both the Saturn IB and Saturn V. Proposals also existed to use various numbers of J-2 engines in the upper stages of an even larger rocket, the planned Nova. The J-2 was America's largest production LH2-fuelled rocket engine before the RS-25 Space Shuttle Main Engine. A modernized version of the engine, the J-2X, was considered for use on the Earth Departure Stage of NASA's Space Shuttle replacement, the Space Launch System.
Constellation program
The design of the J-2X engine intended for use on the Ares V booster rocket was originally to be similar to the J-2 engine of the Apollo-era Saturn V and Saturn IB rockets. In designing the J-2X, NASA engineers visited museums, searched for Apollo-era documentation and consulted with engineers who worked on the Apollo program. "The mechanics of landing on the Moon and getting off the Moon to a large extent have been solved," said Constellation program manager Jeff Hanley. "That is the legacy that Apollo gave us." However, as the J-2X program progressed, it became apparent that, because of revised safety requirements and the growing mass of the upper stage, it was necessary to scrap the original J-2 design completely and use a completely new design for the J-2X.
JSC Kuznetsov
The Kuznetzov Bureau first became notable for producing the monstrous Kuznetsov NK-12 turboprop engine that powered the Tupolev Tu-95 bomber beginning in 1952 as a development of the Junkers 022 engine. The new engine eventually generated about 15,000 horsepower (11.2 megawatts), far more than any Western turboprop engine of its time, and it was also used in the large Antonov An-22 Soviet Air Force transport.
Rocketdyne J-2
The new J-2X is designed to be more efficient and simpler to build than its Apollo J-2 predecessor, and cost less than the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME). Design differences include the removal of beryllium, modern electronics, a centrifugal turbo pump versus the axial turbo pump of the J-2, a different chamber and nozzle expansion ratios, a channel-walled combustion chamber versus the tube-welded chamber of the J-2, a redesign of all the electronics, supersonic injection and the use of 21st-century joining techniques.
Aerojet M-1
M-1 development continued through this period, although as the Apollo program expanded, NASA started cutting funding to the M-1 project in order to complete Saturn-related developments first. In 1965, another NASA project studied advanced versions of the Saturn, replacing the cluster of five J-2s on the S-II second stage with one M-1, five J-2Ts (an improved version of the J-2 with an aerospike nozzle), or a high-pressure engine known as the HG-3, which would later become the direct predecessor of the Space Shuttle's SSME.
Rocketdyne S-3D
The Rocketdyne S-3D is an American liquid rocket engine produced by Rocketdyne between 1956 and 1961 for use on the PGM-19 Jupiter and PGM-17 Thor missiles, and the Juno II rocket. Its design was used later as the basis for the H-1 rocket engine and the Rolls-Royce RZ.2.
Republic-Ford JB-2
As more intelligence data was obtained through aerial photography and sources inside Germany, it was decided in 1943 for the United States to develop a jet-powered bomb as well. The United States Army Air Forces gave Northrop Aircraft a contract in July 1944 to develop the JB-1 (Jet Bomb 1) turbojet-powered flying bomb under project MX-543. Northrop designed a flying-wing aircraft with two General Electric B1 turbojets in the center section, and two 900 kg (2000 lb) general purpose bombs in enclosed "bomb containers" in the wing roots. To test the aerodynamics of the design, one JB-1 was completed as a manned unpowered glider, which was first flown in August 1944.
Rocketdyne J-2
The J-2 entered production in May 1963, with concurrent testing programs continuing to run at Rocketdyne and at MSFC during the manufacturing run. The first production engine, delivered in April 1964, went for static tests on the S-IVB test stage at the Douglas test facility near Sacramento, California and underwent its first full-duration (410 seconds) static test in December 1964. Testing continued until January 1966, with one engine in particular igniting successfully in 30 successive firings, including five tests at full duration of 470 seconds each. The total firing time of 3774 seconds represented a level of accumulated operational time almost eight times greater than the flight requirements. As successful single engine tests moved toward their completion, integration tests of the propulsion system with the S-IVB accelerated with the availability of more production engines. The first operational flight, AS-201, was scheduled in early 1966 for the Saturn IB using the S-IB first stage and the S-IVB as the second stage.
L. B. Billinton
The six members of the H2 class were a superheated development of the H1 Marsh Atlantics, authorised in April 1911 and entering traffic between June 1911 and January 1912, with minor alterations to Marsh's original design by Billinton. The prototype 4-6-2 J tank locomotive, no. 325, was completed in December 1910; construction of the second engine, no. 326, started in May 1911. Since a number of problems were being experienced with no. 325 in traffic Billinton was given permission to halt work on no. 326 in June to concentrate on repairs to existing stock and construction of the H2 class. By the beginning of 1912, when construction recommenced, Billinton had modified the design sufficiently for the locomotive to be given the class designation J2 (the prototype becoming J1). Modifications included replacement of the Stephenson valve gear with Walschaerts gear, a reduction in water tank capacity and the use of spiral springs in the suspension instead of leaf springs. Although no. 326 had better acceleration and a faster top speed than no. 325 no further members of the class were built, in part because the 10 members of the superheated I3 4-4-2 class built between August 1912 and March 1913 proved to be the equal of the J2 class in performance and reliability.
V-2 rocket
After Hitler's 29 August 1944 declaration to begin V-2 attacks as soon as possible, the offensive began on 8 September 1944 with a single launch at Paris, which caused modest damage near Porte d'Italie. Two more launches by the 485th followed, including one from The Hague against London on the same day at 6:43 p.m. – the first landed at Staveley Road, Chiswick, killing 63-year-old Mrs. Ada Harrison, 3-year-old Rosemary Clarke, and Sapper Bernard Browning on leave from the Royal Engineers, and one that hit Epping with no casualties. Upon hearing the double-crack of the supersonic rocket (London's first ever), Duncan Sandys and Reginald Victor Jones looked up from different parts of the city and exclaimed "That was a rocket!", and a short while after the double-crack, the sky was filled with the sound of a heavy body rushing through the air.
SM-64 Navaho
Development of the first-stage rocket engine for the Navaho began with two refurbished V-2 engines in 1947. That same year, the phase II engine was designed, the XLR-41-NA-1, a simplified version of the V-2 engine made from American parts. The phase III engine, XLR-43-NA-1 (also called 75K), adopted a cylindrical combustion chamber with the experimental German impinging-stream injector plate. Engineers at North American were able to solve the combustion stability problem, which had prevented it being used in the V-2, and the engine was successfully tested at full power in 1951. The Phase IV engine, XLR-43-NA-3 (120K), replaced the poorly cooled heavy German engine wall with a brazed tubular ("spaghetti") construction, which was becoming the new standard method for regenerative cooling in American engines. A dual-engine version of this, XLR-71-NA-1 (240K), was used in the G-26 Navaho. With improved cooling, a more powerful kerosene-burning version was developed for the triple-engine XLR-83-NA-1 (405K), used in the G-38 Navaho. With all the elements of a modern engine (except a bell-shaped nozzle), this led to designs for the Atlas, Thor and Titan engines.
JB-3 Tiamat
The Tiamat project began in January 1944, when a contract was awarded to Hughes Aircraft by the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) for development of an experimental subsonic, solid-fueled air-to-air missile. Developed in cooperation with the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), Tiamat was a large missile of vaguely dart-like shape and proportion, in length and weighing , with three large stabilizing and control fins at the aft end of the missile body. The rocket motor was a boost-sustain dual-thrust type, providing of thrust for 3.5 seconds, followed by for 45 seconds of cruising flight at . Launched from a A-26 Invader light bomber, Tiamat would use semi-active radar homing to track enemy aircraft, and a proximity fuze was fitted for detonation of the missile's warhead.
Rocketdyne J-2
While work on the J-2S continued, NASA also funded a design effort to use the J-2S turbomachinery and plumbing to a toroidal combustion chamber with a new aerospike nozzle. This would improve performance even further. Two versions were built, the J-2T-200k that provided thrust, allowing it to be "dropped in" to the existing S-II and S-IVB stages, and the J-2T-250k of .
Pratt &amp; Whitney J52
The J52 was developed in the mid-1950s for the US Navy as a scaled-down derivative of the J57/JT3A. It was initially intended to power the A4D-3 Skyhawk, an advanced avionics model that was canceled in 1957. After being canceled, the U.S. Air Force selected the J52 to power the AGM-28 Hound Dog cruise missile. The engine was designed with several unique features for this application, including a "conical centerbody mounted in the intake" and a "variable central plug ... in the nozzle". Then, in 1958, the US Navy selected the engine to power what became the A-6 Intruder.
Rocketdyne J-2
Project Constellation was cancelled by President Barack Obama on October 11, 2010, but development of the J-2X has continued for its potential as the second stage engine for the new, heavy-lift Space Launch System. The first hot-fire test of the J-2X was scheduled for late June, 2011.
Regenerative cooling (rocket)
The V-2 rocket engine, the most powerful of its time at 25 tons (245 kN) of thrust, was regeneratively cooled, in a design by Walter Thiel, by fuel lines coiled around the outside of the combustion chamber. This was an inefficient design that required the burning of diluted alcohol at low chamber pressure to avoid melting the engine. The American Redstone engine used the same design.
John C. Stennis Space Center
As the shuttle program is phased out, the A-1 and A-2 test stands are seeing new use testing the next generation of rocket engines, including the J-2X engine designed to power the SLS upper stage, with the first such test occurring on December 18, 2007.
Republic-Ford JB-2
An initial production order was 1,000 units, with subsequent production of 1,000 per month. That figure was not anticipated to be attainable until April 1945. Republic had its production lines at capacity for producing P-47 Thunderbolts, so it sub-contracted airframe manufacturing to Willys-Overland. Ford Motor Co built the engine, initially designated IJ-15-1, which was a copy of the V-1's 900-lb. thrust Argus-Schmidt pulse-jet (the Argus As 014), later designated the PJ31. Guidance and flight controls were manufactured by Jack and Heintz Company of Cleveland, Ohio, and Monsanto took on the task of designing a better launching system, with Northrop supplying the launch sleds. Production delivery began in January 1945.
Nickel–iron battery
Jungner's work was largely unknown in the US until the 1940s, when nickel–cadmium batteries went into production there. A 50 volt nickel–iron battery was the main D.C. power supply in the World War II German V-2 rocket, together with two 16 volt batteries which powered the four gyroscopes (turbine powered generators supplied A.C. for its magnetic amplifier driven servomechanisms). A smaller version was used in the V-1 flying bomb. (viz. 1946 Operation Backfire blueprints.)
V-2 rocket
The V-2 (, "Retribution Weapon 2"), technical name "Aggregat 4" (A4), was the world's first long-range guided ballistic missile. The missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was developed during the Second World War in Germany as a "vengeance weapon", assigned to attack Allied cities as retaliation for the Allied bombings against German cities. The V-2 rocket also became the first man-made object to travel into space by crossing the Kármán line with the vertical launch of MW 18014 on 20 June 1944.
Rocketdyne J-2
During the experimental program, Rocketdyne also produced a small run of six pre-production models for testing, the J-2S. These were test fired many times between 1965 and 1972, for a total of 30,858 seconds burn time. In 1972 it became clear no follow-on orders for Saturn boosters were coming, and the program shut down. NASA did consider using the J-2S on a number of different missions, including powering the Space Shuttle in a number of early designs.
Aeronca C-2
Jean A. Roche was a U.S. Army engineer at McCook Field airfield in Dayton, Ohio. Roche developed an aircraft with automatic stability and was granted U. S. Patent No. 1,085,461. Roche published his engineering ideas for the aircraft in Aerial Age Weekly and Slipstream Monthly magazines. The prototype was started in Ohio in 1923 with the assistance of fellow engineer Quinten Dohse. The aircraft used a triangular cross-section welded steel tube fuselage, with wood wings, was fabric-covered, and used wire bracing throughout. A Henderson engine was installed, but did not perform well. Next a custom 29 hp two-cylinder Morehouse engine was developed for the aircraft. On September 1, 1925, the aircraft was successfully test flown. Many pilots including Jimmy Doolittle tried out the aircraft. Wright Aeronautical hired Morehouse and rights to his Wright-Morehouse WM-80 engine. Left without an engine, They turned to Robert E. Galloway of the Aeronautical Corporation of America to use the Aeronca E-107 engine. The rights to the aircraft were sold to Aeronca in 1928 as the basis for the C-2 Design.
Republic-Ford JB-2
The United States had known of the existence of a new German secret weapon since 22 August 1942 when a Danish naval officer discovered an early test version of the V-1 that had crashed on the island of Bornholm, in the Baltic Sea between Germany and Sweden, roughly 120 kilometers (75 miles) northeast of the V-1 test launch ramp at the Peenemünde Army Research Center, on Germany's Usedom Island. A photograph and a detailed sketch of the V-1 test unit, the Fieseler Fi 103 V83 ("Versuchs"-83, the eighty-third prototype airframe) was sent to Britain. This led to months of intelligence-gathering and intelligence-sifting which traced the weapon to Peenemünde, on Germany's Baltic Coast, the top-secret German missile test and development site.
Turbopump
High-pressure pumps for larger missiles had been discussed by rocket pioneers such as Hermann Oberth. In mid-1935 Wernher von Braun initiated a fuel pump project at the southwest German firm "Klein, Schanzlin & Becker" that was experienced in building large fire-fighting pumps. The V-2 rocket design used hydrogen peroxide decomposed through a Walter steam generator to power the uncontrolled turbopump produced at the Heinkel plant at Jenbach, so V-2 turbopumps and combustion chamber were tested and matched to prevent the pump from overpressurizing the chamber. The first engine fired successfully in September, and on August 16, 1942, a trial rocket stopped in mid-air and crashed due to a failure in the turbopump. The first successful V-2 launch was on October 3, 1942.
Republic-Ford JB-2
In July 1944, three weeks after German V-1 "Buzz Bombs" first struck England on 12 and 13 June, American engineers at Wright Field fired a working copy of the German Argus As 014 pulse-jet engine, "reverse-engineered" from crashed German V-1s that were brought to the United States from England for analysis. The reverse engineering provided the design of America's first mass-produced guided missile, the JB-2.
Republic-Ford JB-2
The Republic-Ford JB-2, also known as the KGW and LTV-N-2 Loon, was a United States copy of the German V-1 flying bomb. Developed in 1944, and planned to be used in the United States invasion of Japan (Operation Downfall), the JB-2 was never used in combat. It was the most successful of the United States Army Air Forces Jet Bomb (JB) projects (JB-1 through JB-10) during World War II. Postwar, the JB-2 played a significant role in the development of more advanced surface-to-surface tactical missile systems such as the MGM-1 Matador and later MGM-13 Mace.
Yakovlev Yak-2
Yefim Gordon does mention a Yak-2KABB ground-attack variant which might have been confused with the I-29 because it had two ShKAS in the nose and two ShVAK cannon in a depressible ventral pack. Unfortunately no other details are available, although photos do exist. Another variant mentioned by Gordon was the BPB-22 ("Blizhiy Pikeeruyushchiy Bombardirovshchik" — short-range dive bomber) prototype that was fitted with two Klimov M-105 engines, dive brakes and an automatic dive entry/exit control system. It was first flown at the end of October 1940 although it crashed during the test programme when fuel unexpectedly cut out, but not before it was flown to a maximum speed of .
Taylor J-2
The new J-2 had rounded-off wing tips, a similarly "rounded" fin and rudder framed up and fabric-covered separately from the fuselage structure, enclosed cabin and wider Goodyear "airwheel" tires, a special low-pressure variety of aircraft landing gear tire pioneered by Alvin Musselmann in 1929 that resembled a later tundra tire in general appearance and proportions. Powered by a 37 hp Continental A-40-3 piston engine the aircraft appeared in October 1935 and the type certificate was issued on 14 February 1936. From September 1936 the engine was changed to a 40 hp Continental A-40-4. One sub-type was produced, the J-2S which was a float-equipped version.
Rocketdyne J-2
On February 27, 2013 NASA continued testing of the J-2X engine of 550 seconds in duration at NASA's Stennis Space Center.
Ballistic missile
The earliest use of rockets as a weapon dates to the 13th Century (see History of rockets). A pioneer ballistic missile was the A-4, commonly known as the V-2 rocket developed by Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 1940s under the direction of Wernher von Braun. The first successful launch of a V-2 was on October 3, 1942, and it began operation on September 6, 1944 against Paris, followed by an attack on London two days later. By the end of World War II in Europe in May 1945, over 3,000 V-2s had been launched.
Yakovlev Yak-2
Stalin ordered it into production, as the BB-22 (, "Blizhniy Bombardirovshchik"— short-range bomber), on 15 March 1939 before it could be evaluated by the NII VVS ("Naoochno-Issledovatel'skiy Institoot Voyenno-Vozdooshnykh Seel" – Air Force Scientific Test Institute). Their tests were conducted in the early summer and concluded that the engine cooling systems were inadequate, the brakes were troublesome and the fuel system unreliable. The task of converting the aircraft to a bomber was formidable and included redesigning the center fuselage to accommodate the gunner/navigator immediately aft of the pilot and provision of two ShKAS machine guns, one for the gunner and the other fixed in the nose. The rear decking of the fuselage was hinged to pivot down to allow the rear gunner to use his gun.
Rocketdyne J-2
The first all-up test of a complete S-IVB, including its single J-2, in July 1965 was inconclusive when a component malfunction in one of the pneumatic consoles prematurely ended the test after a successful propellant loading and automatic countdown. Confidence in the design was regained in August, however, when the same stage, S-IVB-201, performed flawlessly on a full-duration firing of 452 seconds, which was the first engine test sequence to be controlled entirely by computers. The J-2 was cleared for flight and, on 26 February 1966, AS-201 went through a flawless launch.
In July 1966, NASA confirmed J-2 production contracts through 1968, by which time Rocketdyne agreed to finish deliveries of 155 J-2 engines, with each engine undergoing a flight qualification firing at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory before delivery to NASA. Reliability and development testing continued on the engine, with two uprated versions being used by NASA in the later flights of the Apollo program.
Marshall Space Flight Center
On May 25, 1961, just 20 days after Shepard's flight, President John F. Kennedy committed the Nation to "achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth". In what would be called the Apollo Program, the primary mission of MSFC was developing the heavy-lift rockets – the Saturn family. This required the development and equalization of three new liquid-fueled rocket engines, the J-2, the F-1, and the H-1 (rocket engine); in addition, an existing engine, the RL10, was improved for use on Saturns. Leland F. Belew managed the Engine Development Office.
The F-1 engine was, and still is the most powerful single-nozzle liquid-fueled rocket engine ever used in service; each produced 1.5-million-pounds thrust. Originally started by the U.S. Air Force, responsibility for the development was taken over by ABMA in 1959, and the first test firings at MSFC were in December 1963.
Viking (rocket)
The Viking was roughly half the size, in terms of mass and power, of the V-2. Both were actively guided rockets, fueled with the same propellant (Ethyl alcohol and liquid oxygen), which were fed to a single large pump-fed engine by two turbine driven pumps. The Reaction Motors XLR10-RM-2 engine was the largest liquid-fueled rocket engine developed in the United States up to that time, producing (sea level) and (vacuum) of thrust. Isp was and respectively, with a mission time of 103s. As was also the case for the V-2, hydrogen peroxide was converted to steam to drive the turbopump that fed fuel and oxidizer into the engine. As its V-2 counterpart, it also was regeneratively cooled.
Ares I
At approximately US$20–25 million per engine, the Rocketdyne-designed and produced J-2X would have cost less than half as much as the more complex Space Shuttle Main Engine (around $55 million). Unlike the Space Shuttle Main Engine, which was designed to start on the ground, the J-2X was designed from inception to be started in both mid-air and in near-vacuum. This air-start capability was critical, especially in the original J-2 engine used on the Saturn V's S-IVB stage, to propel the Apollo spacecraft to the Moon. The Space Shuttle Main Engine, on the other hand, would have required extensive modifications to add an air-start capability
JSC Kuznetsov
The current production range of JSC Kuznetsov includes the NK-33 rocket engine, the Kuznetsov NK-32 aviation engine and the NK-37ST industrial engine. In 2016 the company announced plans to produce a modernized version of its NK-32 engine by the end of the year.The Kuznetzov Bureau first became notable for producing the monstrous Kuznetsov NK-12 turboprop engine that powered the Tupolev Tu-95 bomber beginning in 1952 as a development of the Junkers 0022 engine. The new engine eventually generated about 15,000 horsepower (11.2 megawatts), far more than any Western turboprop engine of its time, and it was also used in the large Antonov An-22 Soviet Air Force transport.
John C. Stennis Space Center
At MTF on December 1, 1966 North American Aviation conducted a successful 384-second captive firing of five J-2 engines, the first flight hydrogen-fueled engines, developing a total one million pounds of thrust. During the test, number 2 and 4 engine SLAM arms did not drop, resulting in the successful gimballing of engines 1 and 3 only. The test included the recording of about 800 measurements of the stage's performance, including propellant tank temperatures, engine temperatures, propellant flow rates, and vibrations.
Ares I
Development of the Ares I propulsion elements continued to make strong progress. On September 10, 2009, the first Ares I development motor (DM-1) was successfully tested in a full-scale, full-duration test firing. This test was followed by two more development motor tests, DM-2 on August 31, 2010 and DM-3 on September 8, 2011. For DM-2 the motor was cooled to a core temperature of 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius), and for DM-3 it was heated to above 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius). In addition to other objectives, these two tests validated Ares motor performance at extreme temperatures. NASA conducted a successful 500-second test firing of the J-2X rocket engine at John C. Stennis Space Center in November 2011.
Republic-Ford JB-2
The USAF Air Materiel Command reactivated the JB-2 as Project EO-727-12 on 23 April 1948, at Holloman AFB, New Mexico, the former Alamogordo Army Air Field. The JB-2 was used for development of missile guidance control and seeker systems, testing of telemetering and optical tracking facilities, and as a target for new surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles (fulfilling the V1's covername, "Flakzielgerät" — anti-aircraft target device). The JB-2 project used the North American Aviation NATIV (North American Test Instrument Vehicle) Blockhouse and two launch ramps at Holloman: a , two-rail ramp on a 3° earth-filled slope, and a trailer ramp. The trailer ramp was the first step toward a system which would eventually be adapted for the forthcoming Martin MGM-1 Matador, the first operational surface-to-surface cruise missile built by the United States. The program at Holloman was terminated on 10 January 1949 after successful development of a radio guidance and control system that could control and even skid-land a JB-2 under the control of an airborne or ground transmitter.
Arnold Air Force Base
Other facilities that came on line during the decade included J-6 — the world's largest solid rocket motor test facility — and DECADE, a nuclear weapons effects facility. Among facilities that saw significant modernization were the J-4 Liquid Rocket Engine Test Facility, the Aeropropulsion Test Unit and the Engine Test Facility. PWT also saw a major sustainment and modernization program begin. A number of major aerospace programs came to AEDC for testing, including the F-22 Raptor, the Joint Strike Fighter, the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, the Pratt & Whitney 4000 series engines for the Boeing 777 and F-119 engines for the F-22 and Joint Strike Fighter, the Boeing 747 and 767 and the RL-10 rocket engine.
Yakovlev Yak-2
The Yak-2 was initially known as the Ya-22, in the Yakovlev OKB numbering sequence, before it was redesignated as the Yak-2 in 1941. It was of mixed construction with wooden wings and center fuselage, duralumin forward fuselage, and steel tube framing in the rear fuselage with a wooden upper decking and fabric skin. The cockpit was at the very tip of the nose, but the navigator/gunner was in a compartment behind the trailing edge of the wing. The prototype was unarmed and no bomb shackles were fitted. It also lacked a radio and navigational equipment. It was, however, the fastest multi-engined aircraft in the Soviet Union, able to reach at , not least because it lacked heavy military equipment.
J-2X
The J-2X is a liquid-fueled cryogenic rocket engine that was planned for use on the Ares rockets of NASA's Constellation program, and later the Space Launch System. Built in the United States by Aerojet Rocketdyne (formerly, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne), the J-2X burns cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants, with each engine producing of thrust in vacuum at a specific impulse ("I") of . The engine's mass is approximately 2,470 kg (5,450 Lb), significantly heavier than its predecessors.
Allard J2 (original)
The standard J2 engine in Britain was the 3.6 L flathead V8 engine from the Ford Pilot, delivering 85 hp. A 4.4 L Mercury V8, delivering 110 hp was also available. American enthusiasts modified their cars by fitting an Oldsmobile, Chrysler, or Cadillac V8. J2s exported to the United States were shipped without engines. Then, an engine of the buyer's choice installed locally. This proved to be very successful, and the use of American components made it very easy to find parts for Allard's customers. The front suspension was a swing axle with coil springs while the rear had a De Dion tube system with coil springs, inboard brakes and a quick-change differential. Ninety J2s were built between 1950 and 1951.
Solid-propellant rocket
Modern castable composite solid rocket motors were invented by the American aerospace engineer Jack Parsons at Caltech in 1942 when he replaced double base propellant with roofing asphalt and potassium perchlorate. This made possible slow-burning rocket motors of adequate size and with sufficient shelf-life for jet-assisted take off applications. Charles Bartley, employed at JPL (Caltech), substituted curable synthetic rubber for the gooey asphalt, creating a flexible but geometrically stable load-bearing propellant grain that bonded securely to the motor casing. This made possible much larger solid rocket motors. Atlantic Research Corporation significantly boosted composite propellant I in 1954 by increasing the amount of powdered aluminium in the propellant to as much as 20%.
Juno II
Solid rocket motors derived from the MGM-29 Sergeant were used as upper stages—eleven for the second stage, three for the third stage, and one for the fourth stage—the same configuration as used for the upper stages of the smaller Juno I rocket. On some launches to low Earth orbit the fourth stage was not flown, allowing the rocket to carry an additional nine kilograms of payload. Development of the Juno II was extremely fast due to being completely built from existing hardware. The project began in early 1958 and the first vehicle flew at the end of the year. Chrysler were responsible for the overall contract, while Rocketdyne handled the first stage propulsion and Jet Propulsion Laboratory handled the upper stage propulsion. The first three were converted Jupiter missiles, however all remaining boosters were built as Juno IIs from the beginning.
Japan's space development
NASDA LE-5 engine will be successful, even in light of technological progress in Japan has decided to develop a purely domestic liquid fuel rocket technology to improve domestic technology. The development was initiated from 1984. H-II rocket is a redesign everything from scratch. Toward the domestic first-stage engine completely, with difficulties in its development. First stage was to develop a new type of Japan LE-7 rocket engines are used in high-pressure combustion of hydrogen and oxygen gas, or parts damage due to vibration, and durability of the material issues It took some time to resolve. Hydrogen is also caused by revealing the explosion. Solid rocket boosters had to take advantage of the solid rocket technology has continued research in space science laboratory. Takes years to develop 10, HI in the last two years after the launch [in 1994] decided to launch one rocket. [February 3,] was scheduled to be launched to put off a day fell from the launch pad for air conditioning duct fairing February 4, as the first complete domestic and liquid rocket became H-II rocket was launched in a rocket.
Regener-Tonne
The Regener barrel () was the name of a scientific payload for the World War II V-2 rocket. Mid-1942 plans for subsequent launches to study upper-atmospheric guidance and science were not carried out due to the need for test launches and the eventual advance of the Russian armies. Instrumentation had been contracted on July 11, 1942; and the Research Foundation for the Physics of the Stratosphere was to develop the "Regener barrel" with a quartz barograph, a recording thermometer, an ultra-violet spectrograph, and an air sampler. By January 18, 1945, rumors of nearby Soviet tanks resulted in Erich Regener's organization being sent from Peenemünde before the A-4 instrument package had been finished. The "Regener-Tonne" parachute was tested at Peenemünde Prüfstand VII and a mock-up was launched in January 1945.
H-II
Development of the LE-7 engine which started in 1984 was not without hardships, and a worker died in an accidental explosion. The first engine was completed in 1994, two years behind the original schedule. In 1990, Rocket System Corporation was established to operate the launch missions after the rockets' completion.
V-2 rocket
The USSR also captured a number of V-2s and staff, letting them stay in Germany for a time. The first work contracts were signed in the middle of 1945. In 1946 (as part of Operation Osoaviakhim) they were obliged to move to Kapustin Yar in the USSR, where Helmut Gröttrup headed up a group of just under 250 engineers. The first Soviet missile was the R-1, a duplicate of the V-2. Most of the German team was sent home after that project but some remained to do research until as late as 1951. Unknown to the Germans, work immediately began on larger missiles, the R-2 and R-5, based on extension of the V-2 technology.
PGM-19 Jupiter
Around the same time, North American Aviation (NAA) won the contract to build a long-range cruise missile that became the SM-64 Navaho. This used ramjet power and needed to be boosted up to operational speed by a rocket. Their Propulsion Division was given two V-2 engines to work with to meet this requirement, along with a wealth of research papers from the original V-2 engine team. The NAA team discovered that a major upgrade to the V-2's original Model 39 engine was planned through the use of a new fuel injector design, but the Germans were not able to cure lingering combustion problems. Attacking this task, NAA successfully solved the problems and began using this new injector. This became the XLR-41 Phase III engine, which provided of thrust, one third greater than the Model 39, and was lighter and smaller than the German design.