[289] Combustion chamber for pump-operated rocket, May 8 1941

Photographer

Esther C. Goddard

Preview

Description

Photograph of the combustion chamber for the pump-operated rocket used in the P31 flight test, which took place on May 8, 1941. Goddard invited Captain John Alden and Marjorie Alden of the National Aeronautics Association to observe this flight test. After many setbacks and frustrations, this would mark the second successful flight of a pump-fed rocket. It reached an altitude of around 200 feet before tipping over. Ultimately, the P-Series would expose the unsustainability of working with large and more complex turbine rockets. Combined with his longtime aversion towards scientific collaboration, and a counterintuitive approach to testing that often emphasized changing several variables at a time, the P-Series saw Goddard officially biting off more than he could chew.

By 1938, Robert Goddard felt he had covered everything needed for successful high-flying rockets -- except for a turbine that could drive high-speed pumps to force propellants into the chamber. This would define his work over the next several years. The P-Series of tests Goddard would conduct took place from January 1939 into October of 1941. The P-Series rockets would be the largest and most complex that Goddard would build; too complex for him and team to take on by themselves.

P1-P4 used two pump models that had been tested during the preceding months to conduct four proving-stand tests. The results from P1-P4 concluded that a small chamber, or gas generator, producing warm oxygen gas should be developed for a successful turbine. The development of this gas generator would make up tests P5-P12. Goddard would refer to this gas generator as "an internal combustion-boiler for liquid oxygen", "the object of which was to convert liquid oxygen into warm gaseous oxygen, in a device of small size and light weight, by the combustion of gasoline within this liquid oxygen". This warm gas is what would drive the turbines. From there, flight and static tests using liquid-propellant rockets with these high-speed centrifugal turbine-driven pumps were conducted for tests P13-P36. These rockets averaged nearly 22 feet in length and were 18 inches in diameter. Empty, they weighed between 190 to 240 pounds. The liquid-oxygen load averaged about 140 pounds and the gasoline 112 pounds, making these "quarter-ton" loaded rockets.

The P-Series of tests can be seen in Reel 9 and Reel 10 of The Goddard Rocket Film Reels. At 07:49 in Reel 9, several minutes of footage showing this rocket's innards and various components, including demonstrations of their mechanisms, can be seen.

'The Goddard Rocket Researches: A Photographic Record' is an annotated photo album covering Robert H. Goddard's work and experimentation with rocketry. It was assembled and curated by Esther Goddard sometime after her husband's passing in 1945. Additionally, almost all of the photographs were taken by Esther herself.

Photographs were scanned at 400dpi.

Date Taken

5-1941

Type

image

Genre

photograph

Format

jpg

Keywords

Robert Goddard, rocketry, rockets, Roswell, New Mexico, liquid-fuel rockets, pump-fed rockets, turbines, turbopumps, combustion chamber

Recommended Citation

Goddard, Esther C., "[289] Combustion chamber for pump-operated rocket, May 8 1941" (1941). The Goddard Rocket Researches: A Photographic Record [Individual Photographs]. 293.
https://commons.clarku.edu/goddardphotographs/293

Rights

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