The Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) is a large thrust class, reusable, staged combustion cycle rocket engine employing liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants. A cluster of three SSMEs is used on every space shuttle mission to propel the space shuttle orbiter vehicle into low earth orbit. Development of the SSME began in the early 70 s and the first flight of the space shuttle occurred in 1981. Today, the SSME has accrued over one million seconds of ground test and flight operational time, launching 129 space shuttle missions. Given that the SSME is used to launch a manned vehicle, its reliability must be commensurate for the task. At the same time, the SSME is a high performance, high power density engine which traditionally does not lend itself towards high reliability. Furthermore, throughout its history, the SSME operational envelope has been explored and expanded leading to several major test failures. Hence, assessing the reliability of the SSME throughout its history has been a challenging undertaking. This paper provides a review and discussion of SSME reliability assessment techniques and results over its history. Basic reliability drivers such as engine design, test program, major failures, redesigns and upgrades will also be discussed.


    Access

    Access via TIB

    Check availability in my library


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) Reliability and Analysis Evolution


    Contributors:

    Conference:

    57th JANNAF Joint Propulsion Meeting ; 2010 ; Colorado Springs, CO, United States


    Publication date :

    2010-05-04


    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English




    Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) Evolution

    Worlund, Len A. / Hastings, J. H. / McCool, Alex | NTRS | 2001


    Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) Evolution

    L. A. Worlund / J. H. Hastings | NTIS | 2001


    Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) Operational Capability

    Benefield, Philip / Bradley, Doug | NTRS | 2010


    Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) Systems Operation Overview and Evolution

    Benefield, Philip A. / Kan, Kenneth C. | NTRS | 2010


    Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) Options for the Future Shuttle

    Jue, F. / Kuck, F. / American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics et al. | British Library Conference Proceedings | 2002