![]() "The narrower it is, the less driving force the bubble experiences for expelling it from the channel. "We're testing the limits of the LAD, specifically how narrowing the angle will affect its ability to generate adequate bubble movement," Supak said. A camera was installed inside the payload to record the behavior of vapor bubbles inside the five LADs. Today's experiment saw Supak, McCleney and Green testing five different versions of the LAD to test whether the angle or surface properties affect the ability of the devices to be able to passively remove gas bubbles in microgravity without costly thrusting maneuvers or active separation systems. ![]() The 10-minute flight is ideal for the experiment, providing roughly three minutes of high-quality microgravity, which is significantly more than the 25 seconds of microgravity achieved in parabolic flights. Today was the third time SwRI has tested the LAD aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket, which takes off and lands vertically. Amy McCleney and Steve Green, designed the LAD's tapered channel, which passively removes the bubbles through surface tension. "The tapered LAD is being developed to deliver vapor-free liquid to a fuel tank or an engine." "A more reliable design is needed to prevent vapor bubbles from transferring to other tanks and these bubbles could also damage the engines during ignition," said Kevin Supak, a program manager at SwRI and the project's principal investigator. A long spaceflight would require large amounts of fuel to be stored at low temperatures and then transferred to the rocket engine, but current LADs have straight channels that are vulnerable to internal vapor bubbles. Currently, most rocket engines use cryogenic liquid propellants as fuel. ![]() The tapered LAD was first developed in the late 1990s and early 2000s as part of a collaboration between SwRI and NASA to develop cryogenic fluid management capabilities during long spaceflights. ![]()
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