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F-1 Engine Turbopump from Cold Calibration |
When the Cold Calibration Test Stand was demolished, it still had an F-1 rocket engine turbopump/bobtail thrust chamber installed in it from tests in the 1960s. This turbopump was removed prior to demolition and remains on MSFC property: During my September 2013 visit, it was still sitting upright near the former location of Cold Cal. By my September 2014 visit, it had been moved to the boneyard southeast of the S-IC Test Stand (Google Maps link) and was laying on its No. 1 side (although I failed to take any overall photos of it in its new location). This orientation allowed inspection of the "injector" and of the aft face of the second stage turbine wheel. The turbopump has had its high-pressure ducts and gas generator removed, allowing inspection of turbopump interior. Oddly, it appears that the output of the fuel turbopump was not run through the bobtail thrust chamber, as the fuel inlet manifold has no actual fuel inlet. I'm not certain whether the output of the fuel output was routed elsewhere or whether the fuel turbopump was run dry (which would seem to alter the performance of the turbopump). |
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