Shuttle Main Engine Test

[uk2k1010]

that was bomb. or should i say boom

[Moonsamy2]

planning on getting this for my skate board. what do you recon?

[worldwildwest]

I just Wish our Cars Could run on Hidro

[3Deity]

Jeremy Clarkson filmed an engine test for his 1995 BBC series 'Motor World', at the end of the short burst it starts raining 100% pure water from the cloud formed by the engine - pure physics magic! :o)

[twinturbonissan300zx]

to think during launch the space shuttle has TWO MORE of these and 2 solid rocket boosters....thats how over 3 g's is achieved during launch even when the space shuttle weighs over 2000 tons at launch - like nearly 4 airbus a380's!

[bb4960]

I remember while living in Long Beac, CA on West Pleasant McDonald Douglas would test jet engines at the LB airport. It was LOUD. I can only imagine one of these...

[Textrybal]

Well, I know where to go next time my nose is dry and irritated!

[EpiDemic117]

hahahaha these engines are probably greener than a prius! only Water is the result of it's exhaust!

[Thunderr10]

Whats amazing is how that cloud will come down in an hour or so as rain :)

[funkawitz]

The water curtain is for a couple things, but a few reasons are cooling and noise reduction. The water quiets it down ALOT.

[UnrealGlider]

What was the purpose of this? lol

[Newbpwng]

how much does it cost in fuel to test it for this long ?

[DustinBruce31]

When i was a kid we lived on the outer edge of the "Buffer Zone" right on the Hackock/ Pearl River county line. Night tests would throw you out of your bed.

[Woody615]

What's really amazing is that there are people so close. When the Sat V F-1 engines were tested, the closest people were miles away due to the acoustical issues (sound can kill).

[uaaerospace]

@Woody615 The audio of this recording doesn't do the real sound justice. It's an awesome sound in person!

[highvoltagefeathers]

@Woody615 Thats one of the reasons they flood the "blast pad" with water. Most of the plume you see further out is water vapor from normal engine operation, but some is steam and water droplets from the pad. All the steam and water absorb sound.

[ssyreeni]

That's the hydrogen economy for you, right there. Only high-powered. ;)

[LenWhistler]

Is this the same location as:

watch?v=f3sVuFjJlp4

It looks like the shuttle engines are much cleaner burning than the 1st stage of the Saturn V.

[Mitrolaja]

And also there is a lot of Hydrogen in the exhaust gases, because only the half of the H burns. It makes the Isp higher because of the low molecular weight of the H.

[fairlanejay]

It doesnt get more environmentally friendly than that, just plain old water / steam and some carbon dioxide but they dont put out that much relatively speaking.

[fiddleup]

More like the niagra falls than an engine test! They use so much coolant water these days, you don't see any flame at all! Pretty cool though!

[ugowar]

Hydrogen doesn't make for a bright flame anyway, it's a dull red flame probably only visible in night tests there. Plus, the engine employs a staged combustion cycle so doesn't vent much unburned fuel to boot (as for example Saturn V F-1 engines did from their gas generators).

[boolykbol]

ugowar if the fuel and oxidiser reacts with spark,it will burn

[ugowar]

@boolykbol Huh? What does that have to do with my comment on lack of bright *exhaust* flame?

[panhead1219]

Ahhh.. it's just an estee's model rocket on steroids! :/

[rocketman6881]

And We Call This The Cloud Maker !!!

Impressive Video !!!

[zathras9now]

I was in Huntsville in the 90s when they had one of these tsets. From some 5 to 10 miles away ONE SSME sounds a lot like a loud airliner. I can only imagine what it would sound like with the whole stack! Wish I could hear that in person!

[SpatulaCS]

I live in Daytona Beach and you can hear it from the beach when the shuttle launches, just takes 3 or 4 minutes to get there from 30 or so miles away.

[HelpSaveTheEarth2051]

I also whish i could sniff those rocket fumes in person too!!!

[thewebmaster93]

Aries V makes this look like a firecracker.

[MightySaturn5]

Unlike Aries V this is a liquid fueled (hydrogen) engine, not a combination of solids with a liquid core.

Later (never built) plans for Saturn V had versions with (4) aries sized solid strap on boosters that would have easily surpassed Aries -both have a 33 foot diameter core however without its solid strap on's, Aries would have much less thrust for the same footprint -the last Saturn V had almost 8 million lbs of thrust while later versions of the F-1 (F-1A) would have made it even higher

[Neptuneaus]

Also, this is a test of only ONE engine. At lift off, three engines ignite, followed by the twin solid rocket boosters. The space shuttle leaves the pad much faster than the Aries or Saturn V.

[MightySaturn5]

yeah, and weighs far less

[pancakepie2]

So is that hydrogen peroxide or simply liquid oxygen they are testing with?

[taliban0king]

LOX---LH2

[rwboa22]

Liquid oxygen (LOX). The LOX and liquid hydrogen (the Shuttle's fuel) are mixed together in the combustion chamber where a spark (like a sparkplug in a car engine, only more elaborate) ignites the two elements together, giving you a clean flame for thrust and steam for exhaust. The only "dirty" elements of the Shuttle is the solid rocket boosters (SRB) and the attitude control thrusters.

[tovaristchPavlik]

Yeah, it`s a ~cloudmaking machine~ )

[dubstepdude]

All that stuff they told you in geography was a lie.. THIS is where rain comes from

[jumper86]

Could you feel any ground vibration from where you were? Looks like you were several hundred feet away

[bal20]

That must be a contender for the world's best smoke machine, surely

[blyndrotor]

Makes steam not smoke.

[dubstepdude]

So do smoke machines you fucktard

[blyndrotor]

You sir are a great example of what is wrong with Y/T.

Would it be so hard to attempt to correct me without being a complete prick.

Nothing like a keyboard warrior opening their mouth and saying something that they would never say to an idividual for fear of having to deal with the consequences.

So I salute you keyboard warrior, may your childish attitude and narrowminded way of thinking and inability to comunicate be forever hiden behind your screen.

[dubstepdude]

Alright jees, was only joking

[U238Studios]

Fucking asshole don't cry...

[blyndrotor]

Thats it. Thats the best you can come up with. Please.

Try and be a litle more creative if you want to insult me. Atleast try and make it better than every other idiot out there.

Besides if I had cried about the matter it would have stuffed my keyboard and it would look like this. ja/sd'd\]oNDNDGASKSL;LJDE FKASJSDHFLS.

[Polybun]

Actually the problem is fucking morons that will do no research of their own, expect everyone to kiss their stupid ass, and generally have no idea why everyone treats them like dirt. People like you in other words. Do us all a favor and kill your fucking self.

[blyndrotor]

Aww you hurt my feelings.

Curious though, at what point did I give you the impression that I want everyone to kiss my ass, or that people treat me like dirt.

I hope you had fun with this internet psycic

[MastaMag]

They`re adjusting the rotation speed of the earth =)

[boolykbol]

@MastaMag what

[fuji2failo]

wow now i know how they makes clouds..i think its going to rain tomorrow

[tnwellian]

the clouds from these tests do actually rain lol..no joke look it up

[ChuckyYeager]

where is fire?

[rcargn]

They used to test these engines in my home town, Simi Valley, CA back in the 80s at the Rocketdyne facility. I remember our whole house vibrating. As a kid, tt was so fun to watch the plumes and feel the immense power. My neighbor worked on the pumps.

[AIRMAN217]

i never knew that the white smoke was steam until i saw this show about space shuttles

[blacklotus808]

not only is it steam it makes its own rain clouds too.....

[rwboa22]

Thanks to the guys that brought you the RL-10, J-2, Space Shuttle, and RS-68 engines that use liquid hydrogen and LOX for the fuel and oxidizer. Best stuff on the face of the Earth and probably cleaner than the water that comes out of your tap.

[blacklotus808]

This planet can be a great place to live sometimes !

: )

[HouTexHemi]

The exhuast from this engine is 100% Pure Water. Everything you see in the video is STEAM. You environmental wackos don't usually like to get facts before going nuts though so I'm sure you don't care. Let's ban water!!!

[michaelschepis]

Right on HouTexHemi!!! You are so right about the environmental/Global warming freaks.

[UnrealGlider]

@HouTexHemi Bet this made it rain lol

[w7i7n7k7]

i wish u could see the actual fire

[Jameilalala]

Well there isnt much of a fire even if you could see it. The flame of these engines is hardly visible.

[w7i7n7k7]

why? is it just oxygen? cuz i thought it was oxygen and hydrogen

[Jameilalala]

Well dont ask me about the chemical details but the fact is, the mixture of liquid oxygen and hydrogen burns almost without a visible flame. (just a small blue one) You can see quite good at some videos here at youtube:

v=so8axV56ujY (at 15 sec)

v=kMSVg6Vbb98 (at 60 sec)

v=4FROxZ5i67k (at 78 sec)

[jizzmonger]

Mmmmm...Steamy

[blyndrotor]

NOS Bottle Explodes During A Race is the vid and look for the exchanges between blyndrotor and jh1212, you'll get a laugh.

[seanyboy741]

why didnt the building lift off?

[Sigrafix]

That's one hell of a fog machine.

[bobwhois]

Was that ONE engine or all THREE main engines?!

[da40flyer]

I believe the SSME's are tested one at a time. I think I heard once that each one has the same output as 15 Hoover Dams.

[bobwhois]

AND at least 25 Hoover vacuum cleaners!  (Just thought you'd like to know)

[NakSsS]

From what I know the engines are tested one at a time...So I guess that's just one engine. Those things are amazing.

[NakSsS]

...and think about it, they can't monitor all three engines at the same time. I'm not familiar with what kinds of incidents might happen on a SSME test but I guess if something goes wrong with at least one of them it'll put the other two engines at risk...it doesn't sound reasonable.

[uaaerospace]

This was one engine.

[fourx5]

SSMEs are not designed to take the shuttle into orbit. They only help it.

The SRBs are the prime movers - firecrackers sold by ATK.

[blablubb12345]

It's the other way round. The SSMEs take the shuttle to orbit while the SRBs help to get it off the pad in the first 2 minutes of the flight. While the SRBs produce 75% of the liftoff thrust, the SSMEs are delivering about 80% of the overall impulse for orbit.

[arshdeep125]

At the end it sounds like a Tie Fighter from Star wars, amasing eh?

[MBalVids]

jep, heard it too :) ..btw, that's a lot of fuel :)

[arshdeep125]

I think its about 900 tons of feul ...O.o woah did i just say that right? oh man ...dude thats a lot of Fudgin feul...

[drsheikhjunior]

nice one!!5 stars...

[Gruntol5]

I should imagine that generated a bit of rain downwind! Strange that there is no "glow" from the burning hydrogen/oyygen. I would expect to see the steam lit up from the inside.

[msudawg1997]

The glow showes up fairly well at night. On this stand the nozzle of the engine is actually encapsulated and the hot gas coming out of the nozzle is directed down a long tube (passive altitude simulation) before exiting the tube, hitting the deflector, and being directed sideways. This helps to hide the glow.

[Gruntol5]

Thanks for explanation! Wow - somebody on YouTube who sounds like they know what they're talking about. I am constantly amazed at the sheer pig-ignorance of commenters and their inability to spell/type/punctuate and string a few (stupid) words together. End of rant.

[msudawg1997]

Thanks for the comment. I just thought it was cool to find video of my "office building" on YouTube! I guess looking from outside in it's cool to be able to call rocket engine testing your job.

[blyndrotor]

Dude I had one guy claim that Nitrous oxide was flammable. All to do with nitrous injection in an engine. He just didn't get it. That is until i told him to go to Wikipedia and look it up. Never said another word again.

[halo2maxifoo]

wait so what happened when this guy said that nitrous oxside was flamable?

[blyndrotor]

Not sure what you mean but anyway, he was saying "why would you inject a non flamable gas into the engine but didn't understand that it is the combustion process that release's the oxygen molecule to enable more fuel to be burn't. Nitrous oxide is not flammable, but does allow more fuel to be burn't due to a chemical reaction to the combustion process. I'll try and find the vid and let you know so you can read the whole thing for yourself.

[nakazatoGTR]

SSME's=hight tech steam steam rocket engine.

russian buran had succesfully designed a non toxic RCS rockets on their Buran.

[bonjour82]

All the steam produced is from water that is poured into a pit under the engine exhaust. It prevents damage to the pit as the flames rush through exhaust veins. As long as the engine runs, so does the water.

[uaaerospace]

Exactly. The water is running long before the engine starts and continues to run after the engine shuts off.

[arohn2007]

@uaaerospace How were they able to test the engine without that thing shooting up in the sky? It must've had major thrust even though it was only one engine

[uaaerospace]

@arohn2007 The engine is mounted in a large concrete and steal structure. The structure is built to withstand the 400,000 lb force of thrust that this engine can produce.

[Woody615]

@uaaerospace @arohn2007 And in reality, that isn't that much thrust compared to when they test fired all 5 F-1's on the Saturn V. The 5 engines produced 7.5 million pounds of thrust. Actually you just tie into the thrust plate and it stays in place. At launch there were tie down arms that held the entire rocket in place, so they are well versed on how to hold it down.

[qbasicjedi]

Interstingly, the SSME burns liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, so all that exhaust is just very hot steam. The space shuttle actually makes water!

[littlepyro]

Yes, true, but the other gasses in the APU's and whatnot are actually toxic and can kill you very, VERY easy.

[videohog22]

also very expensive!

[jorgefc]

nice smoke bomb....

[MaverickTPGN]

That would shrink a few tee shirts...

That is probably enough steam energy to heat my campus for a few years! lol

[proaudiohd]

Nice! How do you find out about the test, and how do you get to this viewing location? I'd love to see this in person

[united3000]

nice vid