Documents / Report
This Defense Intelligence Reference Document, prepared by the Defense Intelligence Agency and dated 8 March 2010, was produced under the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications (AAWSA) Program. It gives a historical and technical review of how to reach space and return. It covers hypersonic gliders, air-breathing and rocket propulsion, thermodynamics and materials, and launch options. It argues that reliable, schedulable access to low Earth orbit is mainly a hardware and propulsion problem rather than a technology one.
UNCLASSIFIED/ ,'1"1!11'- l!ll"l"!!!llit tl!II!! l!IHLY Rocket Propulsion The photo in Figure 27 is from the Society of Automotive Engineers book, Advanced Engine Development at Pratt & Whitney: The Inside Story of Eight Special Projects 146- 1971, by Dick Mulready. Chapter 6 of this book, "Boost Glide and the XLR-129 - mach 20 at 200,000 Feet," mentions the McDonnell Douglas boost-glide strategic vehicle, as well as citing the key personnel at McDonnell Aircraft Company. Some time ago, a model showed up on the desk of a now-Boeing employee that was not readily identifiable. The author has an original model of this boot-glide strategic vehicle, and it matched the unidentified model shown in Figure 27. The XLR-129 was a shuttle-class engine that operated with turbopump exit pressures of 3,500 psi. It was brought to full pressure operation for the U.S. Air Force in just over 3 months. 14 In comparison, the space shuttle main engine (shown in Figure 28), operating with a lesser turbopump exit pressure, required 3 years to reach full pressure operation and never demonstrated reusability without overhaul. Figure 27. Boost-Glide Strategic Vehicle With Pratt & Whitney XLR-129 Rocket Engine Installed, Circa 1964 ---., •,. ~~ .,., ~ ~· ·;11fJl ~' •• ~ .. ~~ ,,6: Figure 28. XLR-129, a Shuttle-Class Engine That Ran for 40 Test Cycles With Only Component Maintenance and No Engine Rebuilding The final paragraph of chapter 6 in Mulready's book contains the following passage: "The liquid oxygen turbopump was the next component in line. However, before it was funded, NASA had started the space shuttle campaign, and the Air Force gave the XLR- 129 program to NASA granting free use of the existing hardware to Pratt & Whitney. NASA promptly canceled the liquid oxygen turbopump because it would be unfair to our competitors to fund it." With the demise of the XLR-129, a rocket engine with a run record of 42 simulated flights (in the test chamber) without any overhaul disappeared. This engine was really the type of hardware a Kelly Johnston would oversee-that is, the best application of the industrial capabilities available in the skilled mechanics, engineers, and manufacturers. The only other engine of its class is the Russian RD- 0120 engine manufactured by Autokinamatiki for the Energia launcher. This engine functioned on the test stand for 80 simulated flights to space and return before 25 UNCLASSIFIED/;CEiOAt OFFIGIPk IP&'i Ollk¥
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Report, from the dia collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 56 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.