Difference between revisions of "Mk-55 "Thud" Liquid Fuel Engine"

Revision as of 16:40, 10 October 2012

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The Mark 55 Radial mount engine is used to provide thrust to a rocket and is fueled by FL-T200 Fuel Tanks.

Usage

The Mark 55 is the third Liquid Fuel engine with thrust vector control, that allows efficient control of the rocket during descent and landing. The Mk 55 is relatively heavy and low thrust compared with the size 1 engines -- its TWR is only slightly better than the LV-909's. The low thrust (and radial mounting) makes a single Mk55 unsuitable as a main engine on most lower stages, but it can be used to augment other engines. More importantly, the Mk55 is radially mounted meaning you can position landing struts between them. can extend past it. Because of this, the mk55 is one of the primary choices for lander engines in 0.16.x as it can be placed above or in-between landing legs. The Isp of this engine is relatively poor (comparable to the large LV-T30), but landers typically have limited ΔV requirements, making this a non-issue.

Unlike the the LV series the Mk55 can be mounted radially (including on Radial Decouplers) allowing for multiple placement around a single fuel tank. The Mk55 must be directly connected to a non-empty Fuel Tank, or fed by a fuel line to produce any thrust.

The thrust vectoring on this engine tends to be more useful than on the LV-T45, due to both the radial mounting, and use as a stabilizer.

Description

Changes

0.17

• Renamed 'Mark 55 Radial mount engine' to 'Rockomax Mark 55 Radial Mount Liquid Engine'
• Thrust increased from 80 to 120 N.

0.16

• Initial Release