NASA tests 14-inch hybrid rocket motor for smoother and safer Moon touchdowns
Humanity is returning to the Moon with NASA’s ambitious Artemis campaign.
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center experts in Huntsville, Alabama, are conducting crucial tests for a safe lunar landing.
They have been firing a 14-inch 3D-printed hybrid rocket motor, developed at Utah State University, over 30 times.
This hybrid motor combines solid fuel with gaseous oxygen to generate a powerful exhaust stream, mimicking the conditions of a real lunar lander.
“Firing a hybrid rocket motor into a simulated lunar regolith field in a vacuum chamber hasn’t been achieved in decades,” said Manish Mehta, Human Landing System Plume & Aero Environments discipline lead engineer.
“NASA will be able to take the data from the test and scale it up to correspond to flight conditions to help us better understand the physics, and anchor our data models, and ultimately make landing on the Moon safer for Artemis astronauts.”
Understanding the interaction with lunar surface
Serving as a vital tool for ground testing and data collection, this hybrid motor will shape the design and operation of the actual Artemis lunar landers.
Powerful engines are necessary for a lander module to brake from lunar orbit and achieve a soft touchdown.
The NASA Human Landing System (HLS) will transport astronauts to and from the lunar surface as part of the Artemis program.