The Wright Flyer took off in 1903 powered by a measly 12 horsepower straight-four. Little did Orville and Wilbur know that just 110 years later, their pokey engines would eventually lead to a power plant with more horsepower than The Titanic and Shepard’s Mercury-Redstone 3—combined.
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Unlike commercial airliners, modern military aircraft are subjected to ever-changing flying conditions—from high-thrust takeoffs to flying at altitude to combat maneuvers. So why are they outfitted with engines that perform optimally in only one of those flight envelopes? For the next iteration of the F-35 Lightning II, Pratt and Whitney is developing an engine that performs at its best no matter what’s required of it.
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We all know that engines have been steadily improving for years. I mean, they better, right? What with all the researchers poking at them in their development cages and whatnot. But it’s easy to forget just how much better they are until you see them in context with their ancestors. Which is exactly what we’re trying to do with these infographics.
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Jeff Bezos isn’t the only person interested in vintage NASA technology. Public and private entities alike are actively taking a second look at the Rocketdyne F-1 engines that helped notch Saturn V rockets as the tallest, heaviest, and most powerful rocket ever operated—even today, forty years after the demise of the Apollo program. More »
The Wright Flyer took off in 1903 powered by a measly 12 horsepower straight-four. Little did Orville and Wilbur know that just 110 years later, their pokey engines would eventually lead to a power plant with more horsepower than The Titanic and Shepard’s Mercury-Redstone 3—combined. More »
Even though today’s largest airplane engines are capable of producing more than 100,000 pounds of thrust, they are still susceptible to ice build-up in the sub-zero temperatures at cruising altitude. To ensure the next generation of mega-engines can withstand the worst that Old Man Winter can throw at them, GE has set up a testing center in the coldest, most inhospitable frozen environment this side of Hoth—Winnipeg, Canada. More »
The 109,000 HP Wärtsilä-Sulzer RTA96-C diesel engine is the largest and most powerful, but at 2,300 tons, any warship it’s attached to is going to have trouble outmaneuvering jellyfish, much less torpedoes. Instead, the British Navy is relying on a new gas turbine engine that, while only half as powerful as the RTA96, weighs 68 times less. More »
Every one of the modern US Navy’s 129 ships, and its entire fleet of aircraft, relies on gas turbines for either basic propulsion or to generate electricity for their critical systems—typically both. But as fuel costs continue to rise, these turbines now burn through nearly $2 billion of fuel annually. That’s why the Naval Research Lab is developing a revolutionary new type of engine that could reduce our armada’s energy consumption by as much as 25 percent (and save $400 million a year) even as the Navy transitions to “all electric” propulsion systems. More »
Bus-sized satellites require massive engines for even the slightest movements, but as far smaller structures become a possibility, a tiny driving mechanism can offer usable thrust. To serve this next-gen tech, MIT saw a need to develop “microthrusters,” which are each the size of a penny and can be mounted to tiny cubed satellites. With thruster components measuring a few microns each, the magnetic levitation system is able to accommodate 500 microscopic tips that emit ion beams in a very small package, serving to push two-pound structures through space. The tiny devices have not made their way into orbit yet, but they have been tested in a vacuum chamber. Because of their size, it’s possible to add several to each satellite, then enabling sophisticated movements for more precise turns.
There are currently two dozen “CubeSats” in orbit, each measuring only slightly larger than a Rubik’s cube, but without any thrusters to power them, positioning can’t be adjusted once they’re released. Because of their current location, CubeSats eventually burn up in the atmosphere, but once they’re released farther from Earth, they won’t be able to enter the atmosphere on their own, remaining in orbit as “space junk” even after completing their missions — micro thrusters could also serve to move these satellites closer to the planet so they can burn up during re-entry. There’s no word on when, or even if, MIT’s invention will make its way to the launchpad, but you can take a closer look in the demo video after the break.
Continue reading MIT ‘microthrusters’ are the size of a penny, could reposition tiny satellites
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MIT ‘microthrusters’ are the size of a penny, could reposition tiny satellites originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 18 Aug 2012 09:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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