Regan Brown
The amount of fuel a space shuttle can hold depends on the type of shuttle and its mission. The now-retired Space Shuttle external tank (ET) held 146,000 US gallons (550,000 litres) of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen fuel. This was the largest element of the Space Shuttle and provided structural support for attachment with the orbiter and boosters. The ET was jettisoned around 10 seconds after the main engine cut off and broke up before re-entering the Earth's atmosphere. The fuel economy of a space shuttle has been estimated at around 9.5 miles per gallon, with most of the fuel being used up in the first 15 minutes.
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What You'll Learn
The fuel economy of a space shuttle
The space shuttle external tank (ET) is the component that contains the liquid hydrogen fuel and liquid oxygen oxidiser. It supplies these under pressure to the three RS-25 main engines in the orbiter. The ET is the largest and heaviest element of the space shuttle when loaded. There were three variants of the ET, but all had the same capacity.
The two solid rocket boosters used roughly 500,000 kg of an 11-star perforated solid propellant cake of Ammonium Perchlorate Composite Propellant (APCP). This provided 124 seconds of burn time with a specific impulse (Isp) of 269 s, resulting in 12.5 MN of thrust per SRB.
The ET was the "backbone" of the shuttle during launch, providing structural support for attachment with the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) and the orbiter. It was connected to each SRB at one forward attachment point and one aft bracket and to the orbiter at one forward attachment bipod and two aft bipods. The ET was jettisoned just over 10 seconds after main engine cut-off and it re-entered the Earth's atmosphere. Unlike the SRBs, the ET was not reused.
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The fuel capacity of the external tank
The Space Shuttle external tank (ET) was an important component of the Space Shuttle launch vehicle, providing structural support and containing the liquid hydrogen fuel and liquid oxygen oxidizer. The ET was the largest and heaviest element of the Space Shuttle when loaded.
There were three variants of the external tank, each with slightly different configurations. The first and most basic version had a capacity of 629,340 kg (1,387,457 lb) of liquid oxygen and 106,261 kg (234,265 lb) of liquid hydrogen. This configuration provided 480 seconds of burn time with a specific impulse of 455 seconds, resulting in 5.45 MN of thrust at sea level.
The second configuration was the Super Lightweight Tank (SLWT), which was the most advanced of the three versions. This tank had a slightly reduced capacity compared to the first version, but still provided substantial burn time and thrust.
The third and final version of the external tank is not mentioned in terms of its capacity, but it is assumed that there was no difference in capacity between this and the previous versions.
The ET played a critical role during the lift-off and ascent of the Space Shuttle, supplying fuel and oxidizer under pressure to the three RS-25 main engines. Unfortunately, the ET was not reusable and broke up before impact in the Indian or Pacific Ocean, away from shipping lanes.
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Solid rocket boosters
The Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) were the first solid-propellant rockets used for primary propulsion on a human spaceflight vehicle. They provided 85% of the thrust for the Space Shuttle at liftoff and for the first two minutes of ascent. Each SRB provided a maximum of 14.7 MN (3,300,000 lbf) of thrust, roughly double the most powerful single-combustion chamber liquid-propellant rocket engine ever flown, the Rocketdyne F-1.
The SRBs used a solid propellant fuel, specifically an 11-star perforated solid propellant cake of Ammonium Perchlorate Composite Propellant (APCP). APCP is a mixture of ammonium perchlorate, aluminium, iron oxide, PBAN or HTPB polymers, and an epoxy curing agent. Each SRB used around 500,000 kg of this propellant, which provided 124 seconds of burn time.
The SRBs were jettisoned from the Space Shuttle at an altitude of about 146,000 ft (45 km). After separation, they parachuted into the Atlantic Ocean, where they were recovered, examined, refurbished, and reused.
Over time, several proposals were made to reuse the SRB design, and in 2005, NASA announced the Shuttle-Derived Launch Vehicle, which was slated to carry the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle into low-Earth orbit and later to the Moon. The SRB-derived Crew Launch Vehicle (CLV), named Ares I, was planned to feature a single modified four-segment SRB for its first stage. However, as of 2016, none of these proposals had progressed to regular flights. It wasn't until 2022 that the first test flight of the Space Launch System (SLS) occurred, surpassing the SRBs as the most powerful solid rocket motors ever flown.
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Liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen
The Space Shuttle External Tank (ET) is the component that contains the liquid hydrogen fuel and liquid oxygen oxidizer. It is the largest and heaviest element of the Space Shuttle when loaded. The ET has three major components: the forward liquid oxygen (LOX) tank, the aft liquid hydrogen (LH2) tank, and the intertank that separates them. The liquid hydrogen tank is the largest part but is relatively light due to the low density of liquid hydrogen.
The liquid oxygen oxidizer and liquid hydrogen fuel are supplied under pressure to the three RS-25 main engines in the orbiter during lift-off and ascent. The ET is jettisoned just over 10 seconds after the main engine cut-off and re-enters the Earth's atmosphere. Unlike the Solid Rocket Boosters, the external tanks are not reused and break up before impacting the Indian Ocean or the Pacific Ocean, away from shipping lanes.
The liquid oxygen sensors allow the maximum amount of oxidizer to be consumed in the engines while allowing sufficient time to shut down the engines before the oxidizer pumps run dry. This prevents oxidizer-rich engine shutdowns, which can cause burning and severe erosion of engine components, potentially leading to the loss of the vehicle and crew. To ensure fuel-rich cutoff, 1,100 lb (500 kg) of liquid hydrogen are loaded above the amount required by the 6:1 oxidizer-fuel engine mixture ratio.
The external tank comes in three different configurations with varying capacities. The Super Lightweight Tank (SLWT), the last and most advanced version, had a capacity of 629,340 kg (1,387,457 lb) of liquid oxygen and 106,261 kg (234,265 lb) of liquid hydrogen. This provided 480 seconds of burn time with a specific impulse of 455 seconds, resulting in 5.45 MN of thrust at sea level.
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The shuttle's main engines
The Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSME), also known as the RS-25, are liquid-fuel cryogenic rocket engines that were used on NASA's Space Shuttle and are currently used on the Space Launch System. Designed and manufactured in the United States by Rocketdyne, the RS-25 burns cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants, with each engine producing 1,859 kN (418,000 lbf) of thrust at liftoff. The RS-25 engine consists of pumps, valves, and other components working together to generate this thrust. The fuel and oxidizer enter the orbiter through the umbilical disconnect valves and then flow through the main propulsion system (MPS) feed lines. From there, they branch off into separate paths to each of the three engines on the Space Shuttle.
The RS-25 has an unusual nozzle design, with a bell-shaped extension bolted to the main combustion chamber. This nozzle has a large expansion ratio of about 69:1, which is atypical for chamber pressure. To address the potential control difficulties and mechanical damage that could be caused by flow separation of the jet from the nozzle at sea level, Rocketdyne engineers adjusted the angle of the nozzle walls. This modification increases the pressure around the rim while keeping the inner part of the flow at a much lower pressure. The inner surface of the nozzle is also cooled by liquid hydrogen flowing through brazed stainless steel tube wall coolant passages.
The engine's output is controlled by the Main Engine Controller (MEC), which operates five hydraulically actuated propellant valves: the oxidizer pre-burner oxidizer, fuel pre-burner oxidizer, main oxidizer, main fuel, and chamber coolant valves. In an emergency, these valves can be fully closed using the engine's helium supply system as a backup. After shutdown, the main oxidizer and fuel bleed valves are used to dump any residual propellant. A coolant control valve is mounted on the combustion chamber coolant bypass duct of each engine, and the engine controller regulates the amount of gaseous hydrogen bypassing the nozzle coolant loop to control its temperature.
The RS-25 has undergone upgrades throughout its operational history to enhance its performance and safety. These improvements have focused on increasing engine thrust, reliability, and maintenance load. The engine has a specific impulse (Isp) of 452 seconds (4.43 kN-sec/kg) in a vacuum and 366 seconds (3.59 kN-sec/kg) at sea level. It can throttle between 67% and 109% of its rated performance, and each engine weighs approximately 3.5 tonnes (7,700 pounds).
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Frequently asked questions
The amount of fuel a space shuttle can hold depends on the variant of the external tank (ET) used. The ET is the component that contains the liquid hydrogen fuel and liquid oxygen oxidizer. The three variants of the ET are:
- Standard Weight Tank (SWT)
- Lightweight Tank (LWT)
- Super Lightweight Tank (SLWT)
The SLWT, the last and most advanced of the three versions, can hold 500,000 gallons of fuel.
The fuel economy of a space shuttle is about 9.5 miles per gallon. This is based on an average shuttle mission going about 5 million miles.
You can't really compare the fuel economy of a car and a rocket. The engineering term used to describe the efficiency of various propulsion systems is "Specific Impulse".
The fuel economy in this case is awful. This is because the fuel has to lift both the payload and the much heavier vehicle itself into orbit. Traditional launch rockets only have to lift the payload.
The Orion spacecraft would have utilized a modified five-segment Solid Rocket Booster for its first stage. The ET would have served as a baseline technology for the first stage of the Ares V and the second stage of the Ares I. The Ares I second stage would have held 26,000 US gallons of LOX, while the ET would have held 146,000 US gallons, more than 5 times that amount.
