Space Launch System

The Space Launch System (SLS) is an American super heavy-lift expendable launch vehicle used by NASA. As the primary launch vehicle of the Artemis Moon landing program, SLS is designed to launch the crewed Orion spacecraft on a trans-lunar trajectory. The first SLS launch was the uncrewed Artemis 1, which took place on 16 November 2022. Development of SLS began in 2011, as a replacement for the retired Space Shuttle as well as the cancelled Ares I and Ares V launch vehicles. As a Shuttle-derived vehicle, the SLS reuses hardware from the Shuttle program, including the solid rocket boosters and RS-25 first stage engines. A Congressionally mandated late 2016 launch was delayed by nearly 6 years. All Space Launch System flights are launched from Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The first three SLS flights use the Block 1 c

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Non-linear model and finite element simulation of the selective laser sintering process

Serguei Kolossov

This work is dedicated to research on the Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) process. The problem has been intensively investigated by many research groups. A number of physical phenomena observed in SLS are studied. There is, however, no comprehensive understanding of the true process nature and no solid theory of the SLS process has been established up to date. In this thesis, a theoretical model of the process has been developed. This model considers the laser-matter interaction, the non-linear heat diffusion and the phase transformations. The evolution of the material properties due to the sintering phenomena is analyzed by a microscopic sub-model. For solving the governing equations a numerical method based on finite element analysis has been proposed. A combination of non-conformal adaptive mesh for space discretization with a Chernoff's scheme for time discretization has been used. The results of the numerical simulations have been compared to the experimental results. The temperature field evolution predicted by the model is validated by experimental measurements performed with an infra-red camera.

EPFL2005

Enhanced operation of the Eu Ec test facility

Stefano Alberti, Jérémie Dubray, Damien Fasel, Timothy Goodman, Jean-Philippe Hogge, Albert Perez, Ugo Siravo

A Test Facility (TF) has been designed and installed at SPC to allow for the commissioning of the EU gyrotrons developed in view of their integration to the ITER EC system. The first phase of operation of this TF was dedicated to the development of the EU 2 MW coaxial cavity gyrotron [1,2]. The EU gyrotron development for ITER has been reoriented since then and is presently advancing a 170 GHz/1MW/CW gyrotron developed within the EGYC consortium and manufactured by THALES. At the same time, the TF has been enhanced to host the FALCON project [3], consisting in the integration of a second 170 GHz/1MW/CW gyrotron delivered by GYCOM. This new experiment is aiming to test the main RF components of the EC Transmission Line (TL) and of the Upper Launcher system to be installed on ITER. This paper describes the technical modifications brought to the existing TF to comply with the requirements of both 1 MW gyrotrons operation. Effort has been put in switching of the auxiliaries from one tower to the other within a short time ( < 1 week) while maintaining operator safety and equipment protection. A detailed description of the additional implementation and of the strategy followed to share the main auxiliaries (like the HVPS, the cooling system, the control system, etc.) will be presented. Moreover, most of the new equipment, such as the control hardware, have been designed to fulfil ITER site standards. Finally, the preliminary operation results with this reconfigured TF will be presented.

ELSEVIER SCIENCE SA2019

Status Status of the final design of the EC UPP launcher

René Chavan, Jean-Daniel Landis

Four EC H&CD (Electron Cyclotron Heating and Current Drive) launchers will be installed into the upper ports #12, #13, #15 and #16 in ITER. Beside plasma heating their main purpose is to counteract plasma instabilities by injecting up to 20 MW of microwave power at a frequency of 170 GHz at dedicated positions into the plasma. The microwave power is generated in 24 Gyrotrons outside the Tokamak and transmitted into the dedicated ports by 8 waveguide lines per launcher. After passing a CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) diamond window and another section of circular waveguides, the microwaves are quasi-optically guided into the plasma by an adjusted set of mirrors. These mirrors and also the foremost segments of the waveguides are mounted into the Upper Port Plug, which is a massive steel structure capable to dissipate up to 800 kW heat and to withstand heavy mechanical loads induced mainly from plasma disruptions. This paper presents the most recent status of the design of the EC H&CD Upper Port Plug (UPP), featuring the construction of the supporting structure and the BSM (Blanket Shield Module) with its plasma facing First Wall, the PHTS (Primary Heat Transfer System) water cooling layout, the shielding components engineering, the microwave system integration and comprehensive manufacturing strategies. Also correlated computational analyses to prove the final design of the launchers structural system are given.

ELSEVIER SCIENCE SA2018

Saturn V

Saturn V is a retired American super heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by NASA under the Apollo program for human exploration of the Moon. The rocket was human-rated, had three stages, and was powe

Space Shuttle

The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Spac

Blue Origin

Blue Origin, LLC is an American aerospace manufacturer, defense contractor, launch service provider and space exploration company headquartered in Kent, Washington, United States. The company makes ro

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