by George Harsh
The Shuttle MPS consists of:
(1) the HUGE External Tank (ET), actually 2 propellant tanks—1 for Liquid Hydrogen, the other for Liquid Oxygen. And an Intertank between the two. The ET was a MSFC Project with Martin Marietta in New Orleans as the Contractor.
(2) the propellant feed lines in the aft end of the Orbiter that fed Hydrogen & Oxygen from the ET to the 3 Main Engines. The Orbiter was a JSC Project with Rockwell in Downey, CA, as the Contractor.
(3) the 3 Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSME) at the aft end of the Orbiter, and the SSME was a MSFC Project with Rocketdyne/Rockwell, California, as the Contractor.
Someone at NASA Headquarters in Washington saw that there was no Office to overall coordinate the Main Propulsion System and integrate the 3 Projects noted above. Therefore, NASA HQS established a MPS Chief Engineers Office, and over some Objections, stated that it would be at MSFC, with MSFC’s Charles Wood as the Chief Engineer. The office had 6-7 Engineers, each with a specialty. I was blessed to be selected by Charley as the Test Guy.
So, our office went to work getting educated on the Orbiter part of the MPS and writing Technical Memos to JSC. We need to look into this, we need to look into that, with Technical Justifications. JSC IGNORED Charley’s memos !! I suspect that some managers would complain to HQS—you assigned me this job and JSC won’t cooperate. Not Charley Wood, he just kept writing !! Then JSC made a mistake—- they read 1 of his memos !! Or maybe 2!! HEY !!!! This Guy knows what he’s talking about !!! Well, SURPRISE !! SURPRISE !!! So, as in other areas, a Group was established: Propulsion Systems Integration Group (P-SIG with members from MSFC, JSC, KSC, Stennis Space Center, Headquarters, and all involved Contractors. Charles Wood chaired the Group. So, the MPS Chief Engineers Office went from having memos ignored to where no one would even go to the restroom without checking with Charley!!! Well, not really, but CLOSE!!No writing about Shuttle Propulsion would be complete without this: From the first Shuttle launch, many wondered when a SSME would have a Significant Problem—because during its development there were a number!! Thankfully and a bit surprising, that never happened, and it is due to Incredible Talent & Dedication from many at MSFC AND ROCKETDYNE.
