Photo
Gallery 
Photographs
of Compositex hardware and wetware (personnel). Included are some photographs from
the predecessor of
January, 2002: The Kestrel mini-UAV prototype
in shown installed in the Kirsten Wind Tunnel,
Shown above is the culmination of the Phase I
SBIR contract with the AFRL at Edwards AFB. The hot fire static
testing of the Comp-L spacecraft propulsion system
prototype at the Mojave Test Area (MTA) near Mojave,
CA on
An early booster version of the Comp-L
system is shown here. The 1,000 lbf thrust rocket
system is shown mounted the old test stand at the Mojave Test Area. The test article was instrumented with 4 pressure
transducers, a thrust-measuring load cell, and multiple thermocouples. Data was
acquired by computer during the test runs. Many thanks to Tom Mueller for making
this happen.
At left, the 1Klbf Comp-L prototype
engine assembly (cat. bed-injector-ablative chamber) and the injector/catalyst
bed face (right) are shown after the initial testing. This engine is capable of
generating 2,000 pounds of thrust when operated at full throttle.
A small Compositex ablative thrust chamber
constructed with Sil-Phen material is shown being hot fire tested with
LOX/alcohol propellants in a 1999 KIMBO III gimballing
system test at the Mojave Test Area, operated by the RRS. The chamber survived a 68 second burn, much longer
than expected, with minimal throat erosion. This is engine successfully used a
simple pintle-style injector (top of center picture).
The silica-phenolic (Sil-Phen) ablative liner of a 5Klbf thrust chamber is shown here being overwrapped with carbon fiber reinforced epoxy composite using a 4-axis filament winding machine, providing a structural outer shell. The white substance is fumed silica, added to eliminate slippage of wet filaments.
Shown here is a successful 200 second
duration test of the 5Klbf ablative thrust chamber with LOX/kerosene at the
EMRTC test site near
Dan Moser (6'1") is shown at left with
one of the three large ablative thrust chambers produced by Utah Rocketry for AeroAstro as part of their PA-X project. These chambers were
produced with an ablative liner made from the Sil-Phen material. The
liner is reinforced with a carbon fiber/epoxy composite overwrap. At right, yet
another 5Klbf ablative thrust chamber fabricated from Sil-Phen material and a
carbon/epoxy overwrap is shown. Four of these ablative thrust chamber
assemblies were produced for Orbital Sciences Corp. the first engine is shown
here attached to OSC's catalyst bed/injector assembly
on Ken
Mason's mobile test stand in preparation for a static test firing. The engine
was successfully fired, but lasted only 10 seconds, due to a hot gas leak at a
poorly-designed pressure transducer port. This phenomena
is known in the rocket business as a RUD (Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly).
~ 1957: A farm boy from
Dan and Clayton inspect their first piece of
flight hardware soon after it "landed" on the Black Rock Desert,
Nevada in November, 1996. The ablative nozzle for this solid rocket booster was
fabricated with Sil-Phen material
reinforced with composite. It was in amazingly good condition after being
exposed to high-pressure exhaust from aluminized solid propellants. Eleven of
these nozzles were produced for the GG Industries boosters. These boosters
generate about 14,000 pounds of thrust for over 5 seconds, enough to accelerate
the rocket from a standstill to about Mach 4.5! This first flight successfully
boosted a live television downlink payload into space. See the full story and
video of this launch at the RRS website.
ă 2005, Daniel J. Moser, All rights reserved