Technology
NK-33 and NK-43 are derived from the earlier NK-15 and NK-15V engines, respectively.
The engines are high pressure, regeneratively cooled staged combustion cycle bipropellant rocket engines, and use oxygen-rich preburners to drive the turbopumps. The turbopumps require subcooled LOX to cool the bearings. These kinds of burners are highly unusual, since their hot, oxygen-rich exhaust tends to attack metal, causing burn-through failures. The Soviets, however, perfected the metallurgy behind this method. The nozzle was constructed from corrugated metal, brazed to an outer and inner lining, giving a simple, light but strong structure. In addition, since the NK-33 uses subcooled LOX and kerosene, which have similar densities, a single rotating shaft could be used for both turbopumps. Given its longer, heavier nozzle, the NK-43 ratio in vacuo is slightly heavier with a thrust-to-weight ratio of about 120:1.
The oxygen-rich technology lives on in the RD-170/-171 engines, and their RD-180 and recently developed RD-191 derivatives.
Read more about this topic: NK-33
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