1 00:00:01,010 --> 00:00:01,553 Eagle, we’ve got you now. It's looking good, over. 2 00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:05,000 Roger, copy. 3 00:00:10,070 --> 00:00:16,803 What was one small step for Neil Armstrong was a giant leap from his beginnings at Purdue University. 4 00:00:17,010 --> 00:00:18,210 Students at Purdue all have a chance to follow in the footsteps 5 00:00:20,010 --> 00:00:20,236 of former Purdue students and Apollo astronauts Neil Armstrong and Gene Cernan. 6 00:00:25,050 --> 00:00:26,050 (Music) 7 00:00:34,050 --> 00:00:36,240 David Helderman: Hello and welcome to the High Pressure Lab at the Maurice J. Zucrow Laboratories at Purdue. 8 00:00:39,060 --> 00:00:42,993 I’ll be showing you some of our rocket test capabilities. 9 00:00:48,070 --> 00:00:48,660 So here we are at the rocket test cell. 10 00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:50,766 Over here on my left you’ll see the 10,000 lb thrust stand at Purdue 11 00:00:54,060 --> 00:00:55,450 with the capability to flow RP1 which is rocket propellant 1 gaseous hydrogen and liquid oxygen. 12 00:00:59,070 --> 00:01:03,070 We can flow cooling water at about 110 gallons in 6 seconds, 13 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:05,226 which is about enough to fill a swimming pool in 6 or 7 minutes. 14 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:07,916 And the temperatures that the rocket engine sees range from minus 290 degrees Fahrenheit 15 00:01:12,030 --> 00:01:18,830 to flame temperatures of 6,000 degrees, which is about half the temperature of the surface of the sun. 16 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:22,039 Nicholas Nugent: This is our control room. 17 00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:23,593 This is where we remotely control and monitor all the experiments through 3 TVs here in the front. 18 00:01:27,020 --> 00:01:28,036 From here, everything is remotely controlled as well through a series of computer programs. 19 00:01:32,070 --> 00:01:32,786 All of this is student developed and student generated. 20 00:01:35,020 --> 00:01:37,886 The students modify it on a per-test basis. 21 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:38,733 It helps them understand how the actual system operates. 22 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:41,200 So we are going into a test here. 23 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:44,000 3, 2, 1, 0. 24 00:01:45,030 --> 00:01:46,096 (Thrusters fire) 25 00:01:51,010 --> 00:01:53,236 Mauritz deRidder: My experiment is the NASA’s CUIP hydrogen oxygen multi-element experiment. 26 00:01:55,050 --> 00:01:58,070 So we are taking liquid hydrogen and oxygen and forcing it through 7 fuel injector elements inside a combustion chamber, 27 00:02:00,030 --> 00:02:01,410 which is really useful to people who are designing rocket engines. 28 00:02:03,050 --> 00:02:03,690 It’s a sort of study that hasn’t been done before. 29 00:02:06,010 --> 00:02:08,069 We are really lucky to be able to do this at Purdue with a stand this big. 30 00:02:08,070 --> 00:02:08,786 It’s important because we are doing the fundamental science on the types of engines 31 00:02:13,020 --> 00:02:15,640 that are going to form the next generation of engines that will take people to the moon and to Mars 32 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:17,616 and get us where we need to go in space. 33 00:02:19,050 --> 00:02:21,173 John Tsohas: High speed computing has enabled us to analyze and design rocket engine parts by use of computer simulations. 34 00:02:25,060 --> 00:02:27,316 The advent of high speed computing has led to better understanding of combustion and stability 35 00:02:29,070 --> 00:02:31,336 leading to improved engine designs 36 00:02:32,030 --> 00:02:32,660 and contributing to a reduction in the number of costly ground tests required to achieve stability. 37 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:39,703 Yen Yu: Hi, I am working on combustion and stability in rocket engines. 38 00:02:41,030 --> 00:02:48,763 When rocket engine experience high frequency combustion and stability, it will make a high pitched screeching noise. 39 00:02:51,050 --> 00:02:51,603 When you don’t do anything about it, the engine might blow up and cause a space mission to fail. 40 00:02:57,030 --> 00:03:01,963 My job is to understand what causes instability and find ways to avoid it. 41 00:03:02,060 --> 00:03:04,430 Randy Smith: So as part of my research, I take what they are doing out at the lab 42 00:03:05,090 --> 00:03:08,356 and try and do something similar on the computer. 43 00:03:09,020 --> 00:03:09,563 So this entails using computer programming and coding 44 00:03:12,010 --> 00:03:12,646 to try and simulate what is going on inside the rocket. 45 00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:15,393 When the results do match the experiment, then it's very exciting 46 00:03:19,020 --> 00:03:20,636 because that means that we are getting closer to actually simulating the real physics of the rocket. 47 00:03:24,070 --> 00:03:25,316 One of the other perks is that I get to use a NASA supercomputer 48 00:03:27,090 --> 00:03:31,023 which is the equivalent to having 14,000 desktop computers. 49 00:03:32,010 --> 00:03:33,360 I really enjoy working for NASA and here at Purdue, 50 00:03:34,060 --> 00:03:35,526 It’s a great school. 51 00:03:36,020 --> 00:03:38,069 Alex Sandroni: At Purdue University, we are using the lessons from the past 52 00:03:38,070 --> 00:03:38,653 to prepare for the future through the development of new and exciting technologies. 53 00:03:43,020 --> 00:03:46,016 It is with these technologies that scientists and engineers will develop the next generation of spacecraft 54 00:03:47,090 --> 00:03:49,423 to go to the moon, Mars and beyond.