US deep space exploration: Russian engines

The United States has announced it is developing a heavy rocket for deep space expeditions.

It might use Russian-made engines which is the result of house-cleaning in the U.S. space industry.

On Wednesday, NASA reported that it had chosen a design for a new carrier rocket called the Space Launch System (SLS), which will send future American spacecraft on missions to explore the solar system.

"This launch system will ... ensure continued U.S. leadership in space, and inspire millions around the world," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden as he made a public presentation of the project. So, with the Shuttles retired in the summer of 2011, the Americans are lining up something new.

Successor to Saturn
So NASA claims to have developed a new heavy carrier rocket. The new rocket's predecessor was the Saturn V, designed by Wernher von Braun. It was Saturn rockets that launched U.S. Apollo spacecraft on their missions to the moon.

The two rockets have something in common. The SLS will be able to deliver 70 metric tons of payload to low Earth orbit and, with an additional stage, to lift up to 130 metric tons.

Its first stage will be equipped, in different configurations, with three to five RS-25D/T engines - modifications of cruise engines installed on the Shuttles. But the second stage brings us back to Wernher von Braun's brainchild. This stage is scheduled to use a J-2X engine - an improved version of the J-2, which powered the Saturns of the 1960s.

The new design also incorporates detachable side rocket boosters. The original idea was to use solid-fuel boosters. The U.S. team has experience with the technology used in such booster sections from the Shuttle days. These boosters are a tried and tested solution and this is their advantage.