Credit: National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution
This is the Space Shuttle main engine (SSME). Three SSME's plus two solid rocket boosters power the reusable space shuttle. Each SSME produces 375,000 pounds of thrust, or a total of 1,125,000 pounds, and uses liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen as propellants.
Visit the Space Shuttle Discovery at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.
Categories:
Propulsion