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KSP Doesn't Teach: Rocket Engine Plumbing

Scott Manley · 1.1M views · 2016-10-01 · 16:19

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Overview

Scott Manley explains the plumbing of rocket engines, including pressure-fed, gas generator, expander and staged combustion cycles. He shows why more complex designs exist and what they gain.

On Hacker News

Recommended whenever rocket engine cycles or turbopumps come up, as a clear introduction from a trusted explainer.

Recommended by 3 HN people across 3 months · HN mentions 2019–2019

Topics

Space exploration & spaceflightMechanical & precision engineering
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rocket enginesturbopumpsstaged combustionspaceflightpropulsion

What people said

mabbo · 2019-02 · Strong recommendation

Scott Manley has a fantastic video explaining all of this: [VIDEO] In terms of efficiency, it's worth mentioning that even tiny gains have big impacts because of the rocket equation. Having a 1% boost the entire time the rocket is running can have an enormous impact in the overall velocity, or reduce the overall amount of fuel needed for the same targets.

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paranoidrobot · 2019-10 · Recommendation

If you're interested, Scott Manley gives a good intro to the way rocket engines work, and in particular turbo pumps[1] at ~3:30. [1] [VIDEO]

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JshWright · 2019-08 · Recommendation

Calling Raptor "really complex" still manages to undersell it a bit, in my opinion. It's pushing the state of the art in rocket engine design pretty significantly. It's the first full flow closed cycle engine to fly. For folks who are interested in learning more about rocket engines, Scott Manley is a great resource: [VIDEO]

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Sources

Video by Scott Manley, played through YouTube.

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