Word: systemization
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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COMPARED with the mighty Saturn 5, which generated 7,500,000 Ibs. of thrust in its first stage alone, the little engine seemed puny indeed. But the importance of the Apollo spacecraft's 20,500-lb.-thrust Service Propulsion System (SPS) engine was far out of proportion to its 31-ft. length. The engine's faultless operation made the difference not only between a relatively simple moon shot and last week's sophisticated mission, but also between life and death for the astronauts...
Despite its vital importance, the SPS engine was the only major system aboard the spacecraft designed without another complete system to back it. Like other systems, the engine had duplicate parts made to take over if its tanks, valves or propellant lines failed. But space and weight limitations had forced the manufacturer, Aerojet-General Corp., to include only a single combustion chamber, fuel injector and nozzle extension skirt (see illustration). The failure of any of these parts could have meant disaster...
...When valves to these tanks are opened, fuel flows from one tank and oxidizer to the other to meet in the combustion chamber, pushed by pressurized helium that takes the place of potentially troublesome pumps. Because the propellants are hypergolic-they react chemically and ignite on contact-no ignition system is needed. And to avoid including a complicated throttle, the engine burns only at its fully rated thrust...
...year of revolutionaries-or would-be revolutionaries. Students and militants, black and white, neophyte radicals and New Leftists raised fists and hurled stones at the old order. The system must be destroyed; the Establishment must be laid low. Obscenities mingled with tear gas in Chicago. Black Panthers roamed the streets of Oakland. With a sense of deja-vu-of old, familiar furniture being dusted off-barricades once again surrounded the University of Paris. There were no programs, or few of them, for the future; there was only rage against the present. If the rage was often justified, the results...
...demeaning. Under Cohen's proposed ruling, eligibility would be established on the basis of the applicant's own declaration. Twenty-seven states already use this controversial practice, usually relying on spot checks to discourage fraudulent declarations. Cohen has not yet issued a formal ruling to make the system nationwide, but he is likely to do so-and that would pose a serious problem for his successor, Robert Finch. If Finch were to reverse the ruling, he would surely enrage the liberals who have been arguing for the change for years. If he were to enforce it, he would...