DOCUMENT RESUME ED 111 615 SE 017 452 AUTHOR Sayler, D. S.; Mackin, T. E. TITLE Space Technology: Propulsion, Control and Guidance of Space Vehicles. Aerospace Education III. INSTITUTION Air Univ., Maxwell AFB, Ala. Junior Rederve Office Training Corps. PUB DATE 72 NOTE 187p.; Colored drawings may not reproduce clearly. For the accom,panying Instructor Hamdbook, see SE 017 453 EDRS PRICE MF-$0.76 HC-$9.51 Plus postage DESCRIP *Aerospace Education; *Aerospace Technology; Energy; *Fundamental Concepts; *Instructional Materials; *Physical Sciences; Secondary Education; Technology; Textbooks IDENTIFIERS *Air Force Junior ROTC ABSTRACT This book, one 1, the series on Aerospace Education III, includes a discussion of the essentials of propulsion, control, and guidance and the conditions of space travel. Chapter 1 provides a brief account of basic laws of celestial mechanics. Chapters 2, 3, and 4 are devoted to the chemical principles of propulsion. Included are the basics of thrust, the differences betWeen solid and liquid propellant engines, devices for generating electrical power in space, the potentialities of nuclear and electric rockets and thrust and 'thrust-vector controls. Chapter 5 is entitled"Control and Guidance Systems" and deals with topics such as servomechanisms and computers, types of guidance systems, and position fixing or celestial navigation. The final chapter includes &,._discussion of suborbital, earth orbital, lunar, and interplanetary flight. The book is designed for the Air Force Junior ROTC program. (PS) *********************************************************************** Documents acquired by ERIC include many informal unpublished * materials not available from other sources. ERIC makes every effort * * to obtain the best copy available. nevertheless, items of marginal * * reproducibility are often encountered and this affects the quality * * of the microfiche and hardcopy reproductions ERIC makes available * * via the ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS). EDRS is not * * responsible for the quality of the original document. Reproductions * * supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original. *********************************************************************** 0 Propulsion, Control and Guidance of Space Vehicles U S DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH EDUCATION & WELFARE NATIONAL INSTITUTE 8F EDUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS SEEN REPRO DUCEO EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE PERSON OR ORGANiZATION ORIGIN ATINO IT POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONS STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRE SENT OFFICIAL NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION POSITION OR POLICY 1" ) Aerospace Education III Space Technology: 4 .,. Propulsion. Control and Guidance of .SpaceVehicles D S SAVLER ger and T E MACKIN Academic Publications Division 3825th Support Groupi Aademic i AIR FORCE JUNIOR ROTC AIR UNIVERSITY MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, ALABAMA .0 i. 1 ( 1972 This publication has been reviewed and approved byvesper'sle personnel of the Air University in accordance withcurrent directives on doctrine, policy, essentiality,propriety and quality This book will not be offered for sole.Itis for use only in the Alf Forc ROTC progrom We gratefully acknowledge the contribution ofMai Rodney V Coy, JrAE-III Course DtPeetor, AFJROTC to the developmentof this text a 6 Preface Two SPACE VEHICLES aretraveling around the earth in the same orbital pathway, one athousand miles behind the other. How can the rearvehicle catch up with the one in front toaccomplish a rendezvous? Does it apply rocket thrustrearward to increase its velocity? That would seem logical.Or does it thrust forward for braking effect or"retrothrust?" That 1---- would seem completelyillogical, but it happens to be the right answer. The laws governing spaceflight do indeed seem peculiar, but they are the samelaws that Galileo, Kepler, and Newton discoveredcenturies ago. In this text, we shall strive,without overwhelming thestudent with mathematics andother technicalities, to provide a betterunderstanding of the interplaybetween natural and man-made forces bywhich travel beyondthe' earth's atmospherein orbitaround the earth, to the moon, or to otherplanetsis accomplished. Although other volumes in theAerospace Education series have dealt 4th spaceand space vehicles, thisis the first that attempts to setforth the -essentialsof propulsion, control, andguidance and the conditions of space travel in a systematic way. Here are some moreinteresting questions: Why bother chilling liquidpropellants down to-300° or -400° F. when there areothers that work atnormal temperatures? Why not propel aspace vehicle by electrical rather thanchemical energy? Whyshould such a vehicle follow adifferent pathway through space than that of a chemically-propelledvehicle? If sight- ing to the earth and adistant star establishes avehicle's location in space somewhere onthe surface of a cone, what further sightings mustbe made to fixits-location? 5 These are the kinds ofpractical questions thatstudy of this unit cananswer. $eginning with the basic lawsof celestial mechanics, the i text discusses chemicalpropulsion; the basics of thrtist; the differencesbetween solid and liquidpro- pellhnt engines; devicesfor generating electri6a1power inpace; the potentialities of nuclearand electric rockets; thrust and thrust-vectorcontrols; servomech- anisms andcomputers; and command, inertial,and celestial guidance. Inthe final chapter, the discussion returns to celestial mechanics andcompares the char- acteristics of suborbital (missileand sounding rocket), earth orbital, lunar, a'ndinterplanetary flight. N There is much in these subjects to fire theimagina- tion, but ourpurpose is to be realistic. If not "downto earth," we shall at leaststay within the solarsystem. The story told here isnot a science-fiction movie of voyages to distant galaxies buta practical view of what man has already accomplishedor is likely to accom- plish within the next fewdecades. iv 6 Content ,. ,,/ . III PR1 I A( F 1 ( //MA',i'-- \EMI( 1.1 S IN 11 ROSP M., L 2 Some Seventeenth Century Laws . 2 Gravity and Gravitation . Kepler's Laws of PlanetaryMotion 4 5 Newton's Laws of Motion . Explanation of Terms 6 Vehicles in Air 7 8 Propulsion 9 Aircraft Control Missiles and Spacecraft in Air 11 Vehicles in Space 12 13 Propulsion . Control and Guidance 16 17 Summary : CHI -Al IC \IPR 01L1.S1ON \ N D 11:11-. ( 11(,;'io 21 BASICS OF THRUST . 22 Oxidation and Combustion 22 Oxidizers andReducr ers 24 Nature and Effects ofOxidation . 26 Combustion for Propulsion . 26 Qualities of a Good Propellant . 28 Pressuk and Mass Flow . 30 Basic Rocket MotorDesign . 30 Overall, Design More About the Nozzle 31 33 Som Basics of Thrust 34 t is Thrust' 34 S ific Impulse 36 Launch Propulsion 38 MassRatio .,- -to- Weight RatioThe trust 37 . Lift-off Problem . .. 41 Gross:Veight-To-Payload Ratio . ,44 Velocity Gain (AV) 45 Summary v 7 ,,, 1,.....11/ C.:HEMICAI. PROPULSION S\ S FENN . 49 Solid-Propellant Systems 49 Historical Background 50 Solid Propellants . ...... 52 Motor DesignGrain Shape and ThrustControl 54 Applications of Solid Propulsion 58 Liquid-Propellant Systems 59 Historical Background 60 Liquid Propellants 61 The -Liquid Rocket Engine 64 Other Chemical Systems 66 Hybrid Systems 67 Ramjet, Scramjet, and Scramlace 67 Summary 70 napter 4BEYOND C HEMIC AL PROPULSION 75 Propulsion in Space 76 Electric Power in Space Vehicles 80 Chemical and Solar Power Sources . 81 Systems for Nuclear Auxiliary Power (SNAP) 85 Electric Rocket Propulsion 88 Specific Impulse in Electric Propulsion 89 Types of Electric Rocket Engines . 90 Nuclear and Other Advanced Propulsion Systems 94 NERVA 95 Gp Core Nuclear Rockets 96 Deep Space Machines and Other Daydreams 99 Sumniary 100 11,,l'rt (-t )\ 'ROI \NI) (,C II) \\ CE S). STEMS . 105 Physical Control of Space Vehicles 106 Main Engine Thrust Modulation and Termination 108 Thrust Vector and Attitude Control 109 Servomechanisms and Computers 112 Some Everyday Comparisons 112 Computers 114 vi Guidance of Space Vehicles 117 119 The Launch Phase The Midcourse Phase 119 The Terminal Phase 120 Types of Guidance Systems 121 Command Guidance 122 Inertial Guidance ..... 123 Position Fixing or CelestialNavigation 128 132 Summary 137 ( hap/0 P 1 I HVs AN S II-IRMA-diSPA(f 138 Velocity Requirements . Burnout Velocit) Requirements 139 139 Total Velocity Requirements 141 Suborbital Trajectories Ballistic Missile Flights 141 Sounding Rocket Flights 143 Earth Orbits, Transfers, and 144 Ground Tracks 146 Elliptical Orbits 148 Circular Orbits and CoplanarTransfers Non-coplanar Transfers and 15.l _ Ground Tracks 156 To the Moon and Beyond . Velocity Requirement Again 157 158 Lunar Voyages 164' Voyages to the Planets . 172 -Summary 177 I \ vii 9 THIS CHAPTER reviews and builds upon, background you*have acquired in previous units 4, the Aerospace EducationCourse. first the basic laws of --.PlelleforY.,x1Olipn_prld gravitationarsSet -forth.Thenthe conditions of aerodynamic flight for both aircraft andin issifii icribia;-1 flight, which will be aparallel section introducing the conditions of space more fully described in laterchapters. Upon completion of this chapter, you should be able to do the following: (1) list Kepler'sthree -laws of planetary motion; (2) list Newton's three general lawsof motion and apply them to examples of motion an the Aground, inair, and in spacer (3) review the principles of reaction -motors,whether ofircictiriii spacecraft and (4) corn par« the conditions of motion in atmosph and in space with regard to propulsionneeds vehiclecontrol, Kilian,airfoils