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| Transportation
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-> NASA Relies on Copper for Space Exploration
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| NASA Relies on Copper for Space Exploration |
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  The
world's most advanced rocket engine depends on copper. Copper and
copper alloys play an important role in all NASA space flights. The
Space Shuttle's main engines generate a tremendous amount of heat,
which is dissipated by the advantageous thermal conductivity properties
of copper.
The three main engines at the tail end of the Shuttle work together
with two solid fuel rocket boosters to overcome the earth's gravity.
The reusable, throttle-controlled copper engines become the orbiter's
propulsion system for the duration of the flight.
In operation, the engines' main combustion chambers approach temperatures
near 3,3000C (6,0000F). Despite this severely high temperature, the
652-kg (1,450-lb) chamber liners must remain structurally sound for
repeated use. The liners are made from a 96% Cu, 3% Ag, 0.5% Zr alloy
known as NARloy-Z, which has superior heat transfer properties, excellent
resistance to corrosion and oxidation, and is not susceptible to hydrogen
embrittlement from the hydrogen propellant.
In addition to the main combustion chamber, copper is also used in
other engine parts, such as partial coatings for the main fuel valve
housing, pre-burner baffles, and coatings to protect against hydrogen
embrittlement.
Copper in First Man-on-the Moon Mission. The role of copper in space
flights is not new. In fact, copper was crucial in the 1969 Apollo
11 space flight which first put a man on the moon.
- Copper fuel injectors provided the mighty thrust needed to get Apollo
11 into space. Apollo's Saturn V engines used copper because steel
could not take the high temperatures that were generated on firing.
- When Neil Armstrong moved out of the spaceship to get a broader
picture of lunar activities, he trailed a copper coaxial cable - which
remains on the moon to this day.
- Apollo 11 had a copper-based lunar module-to-earth communications
system. This enabled the astronauts to keep in touch with Earth during
the voyage.
- Space suits and space underwear were made with copper, to dissipate
heat from the astronauts' bodies and help them to maintain comfortable
body temperatures.
- Copper was vital in brazing alloys that held together strong but
ultra-light outer and inner heat shields, which protected the Apollo
space team.
- Copper was used as a brazing alloy in the complex tubing of the
spacecraft control system.
- Copper was used in foil-thin layers on each side of the lighting
panels to carry heat away quickly under the most adverse conditions
and prevent igniting the panels.
- Almost 110 kilometers (70 miles) of copper electrical wiring formed
the vital communications network of the Apollo Spacecraft.
- Copper was used as an alloying element to strengthen other metals.
It allowed the fabrication of light but strong structural elements,
such as the spacecraft's inner shell and the structural beams that
supported that shell.
- Copper alloys were used to prevent cold welding in bearings. Cold
welding could have occurred if the smooth parts of the same metal
became immovably fused in the vacuum of space. |
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