Warm Pressurant Effects on Cryogenic Liquid Acquisition

What is it about?

This paper studies how the temperature of the gas used to pressurize cryogenic propellant tanks affects the ability of liquid acquisition devices to provide bubble free liquid.

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Why is it important?

High power rockets for the exploration of space require cryogenic propellants such as liquid oxygen, liquid hydrogen, and liquid methane. For the rocket engines to run correctly these liquids must be bubble free. However, for these engines to operate correctly in low gravity, such as during a journey to Mars a device must be used to separate gas from liquid in the propellant storage tank. We are studying the operation of these devices to enable these types of Mars missions.