Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uwm.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!apple!netcom!stratus!cloud9!jjmhome!cpoint!frog!john
From: john@frog.UUCP (John Woods)
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Subject: Re: Improving main engine power
Message-ID: <10631@frog.UUCP>
Date: 7 Dec 89 04:44:00 GMT
References: <1989Nov23.165606.27671@utzoo.uucp> <117.UUL1.3#5131@mvac23.UUCP> <5104@tekig5.PEN.TEK.COM>
Organization: Misanthropes-R-Us
Lines: 25

In article <5104@tekig5.PEN.TEK.COM>, philj@tekig5.PEN.TEK.COM (Phil Jansen) writes:
> Hi.  I heard a rumor that NASA was working on improving the shuttle main
> engine thrust by 50%  (maximum power right now is 104% -- they froze the
> standard thrust rating at 100% power, then kept improving the engine).
> My question is, why improve thrust to ~150%?  Since the shuttle was designed
> for only 3G's of acceleration, what good does the extra power do?  Doesn't it
> just mean you use your fuel faster?

No explanations, just wild-assed speculations:

(0) [I assume, without waking up enough to think it through, that lifting
capacity is going to be limited by the size of the tanks, hence that is NOT
why they are improving to 150%]

(1) This much extra power would make one-engine-out an annoyance, rather than
something that drastically changes the mission profile.

(2) This much extra power would come in real handy for the Shuttle-C, which
could be beefed up quite a bit and still save weight over having a crew.

-- 
John Woods, Charles River Data Systems, Framingham MA, (508) 626-1101
...!decvax!frog!john, john@frog.UUCP, ...!mit-eddie!jfw, jfw@eddie.mit.edu

Happiness is Planet Earth in your rear-view mirror.	- Sam Hurt