Thrust Chamber Assembly
When the fuel reaches the
thrust chamber, it is directed through 102 coolant channels in the
combustion chamber wall, providing regenerative cooling to the combustion
chamber walls, and then to the injector of the engine. The oxidizer
is routed directly to the injector. The platelet injector assembly
consists of a stack of plates, each with an etched pattern that
provides proper distribution and propellant injection velocity vector.
The stack is diffusion-bonded and welded to the body of the injector.
The fuel and oxidizer orifices are positioned so that the propellants
will impinge and atomize, causing the fuel and oxidizer to ignite
because of hypergolic reaction.
The contoured nozzle extension is bolted to the aft flange of
the combustion chamber. The nozzle extension is made of a columbium
alloy and is radiantly cooled.
The nominal flow rate of oxidizer and fuel to each engine is
11.93 pounds per second and 7.23 pounds per second, respectively,
producing 6,000 pounds of thrust at a vacuum specific impulse
of 313 seconds.