Energia-Buran Reusable Space System

Vocabulary: launch vehicle, artificial Earth satellite, pneudraulic system, liftoff, controllable engine thrust, reusable.

Launch vehicle Energia being developed as a part of the Energia-Buran Reusable Space System is a versatile heavy-lift launch vehicle capable to deliver large payloads up to 100t to orbits and near-Earth space. Mass of payloads delivered to: low orbits of artificial Earth satellite - up to 100 t, the geostationary orbit - up to 20 t, the lunar mission trajectory - up to 32 t.

The LV Energia propulsion unit consists of four 4-chamber oxygen-kerosene engines RD-170 and four 1-chamber oxygen-hydrogen engines RD-0120 on the core stage II and pneudraulic systems for their operation. Engines RD-170 specially designed for LV Energia are of unsurpassed performance and have no analogs abroad.

All engines are ignited at a liftoff with the engines of stage II ignited ahead of the first stage engines. During this period a diagnostics system is executing final checkouts and serves out a "permission" to ignite the first stage engines thus preventing from the LV liftoff with a faulty engine. Wide spectra of controllable engine thrust and oxidizer-fuel mass relation enable to implement the best parameters of the LV motion and synchronous depletion of fuel tanks. In the ascent phase, LV is controlled and stabilized through a thrust vector deflection of engines of stages I and II in two planes. For this, the engine gimbals and high precision vernier thrusters are provided.

The LV Energia autonomous control system based on the onboard computer system ensures a high accuracy of launching to a prescribed area and great capabilities to recover from contingency situations including a failure of one engine of LV. A high degree of automation allowed to consider many potential contingencies. In other words, 500 contingency situations were transformed to contingency situations incorporated in the design. In the most critical contingencies, the automatics brings and keeps the LV in a safety state till a proper solution is made.

A fire/explosion detection system serves to enhance safety of operations performed at the launch site and to warn against the LV in-flight explosion when accidental leakage of oxygen and hydrogen from the core stage occurs. The LV engines emergency protection system monitors parameters of engines in the process of their ignition and operation and allows to shutdown an accidental engine before its shutdown. Under certain conditions an opposite engine functioning normally is also shut down. All this prevents from an accident propagation aboard the LV and allows to continue a controlled flight.

The most notable among design solutions is stage I. In compliance with the technical assignment, The Energia-Buran Space System should be reusable and employed no less than in 10 missions. As a result of comprehensive studies, a parachute rocket system was selected for the core stage recovery after its separation from LV. To return and reuse the core stage was a complex scientific-engineering task assumed to be solved successfully, as experimental development was progressing. Stages A to be subjected to flight tests within the LV were not provided with recovery capabilities and only certain systems were used for recovery verification.

To implement the Energia-Buran program, it was decided to develop a versatile complex "Stand-Start", modify and re-equip the launch site previously developed under the N1-L3 program, develop an Orbiter launch complex, and to foresee backup runways to be used for the Orbiter unplanned landing. In addition, to deliver and assemble the Energia-Buran system, hoisting-transportation devices have been developed, manufactured and mounted, transportation roads have been improved and newly build.

3100 знаков

 

UNIT 13

 

An-124 – the WORLD'S LARGEST AIRCRAFT

Vocabulary: performance, appearance, capability, to haul, payload, to achieve, cross-section, advanced wing section, fly-by- wire system, fixed-Incidence tailplane, composite material, consumption, hold, slot, slat, to smooth, vortex generator, to swing, fence, to tilt, to suspend, lobe, failure, range.

Exercises: