Sander Pool wrote: > > Just so we're all talking about the same thing, the early Soviet missiles > had what, 24 engines? I would consider this a multi-engine missile. Anything > less than 6 falls into the category of 'few' engines. Saturn 5, Titan, Space > Shuttle, Ariane all fall into this category.
Well, they had 20 thrust chambers, but I believe the Russians referred to the configuration as "5 engines, each with 4 chambers" - since each cluster of 4 chambers had a common turbopump feed system, each of these assemblies was called a single "engine". The original motive for the configuration, IIRC, was as a workaround for the combustion stability problems the Russians encountered in their early work with large single chambers... but engines such as the RD-170 suggest that it became an established practice past the point where it was needed for that particular reason. (I have heard the comment made about the SSME's that "we built racing car engines and we should have built truck engines"... I look at pictures of the RD-170, and I think, "OK, so that's the truck engine!") -dave w _______________________________________________ ERPS-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.erps.org/mailman/listinfo/erps-list
