Space Shuttle Combustion Chamber

Today we're looking at how the regenerative cooling channels on Space Shuttle's main combustion chamber were manufactured. They used a combination of conventional machining with electroplating, in a really clever technique to mimic what we can do with 3D printing nowadays.

[CircaSriYak]

my dude looking like a mad scientist who hasnt left the lab in 7 years

[THarSul]

Wax is such an underrated material, it makes so many incredible things possible, from art with lost wax casting, to precision engineering, in the case of this example.

[NoLongo]

To conceptualize something that is not possible to produce and then finding a way to produce it anyway is magic.

[samael]

Wow, obviously everyone talking about the original engineering, but I wanna take a moment to appreciate that model replication! That was an awesome demonstration, very informative short

[davidhaas]

Damn… that’s kinda badass. I’m a mechanical engineering student and I don’t know what I’d do without the fabrication technology of today. I grew up woodworking, so I understand pre-industrial revolution ingenuity, and modern fabrication methods, but there’s a 400ish year gap in there where I am just amazed at how clever humans were.

[EricBrokeIt]

You had me at "its the 1970's and you're an engineer at NASA"

[ccris]

Omg that’s how they did it! I saw other videos about the cooling channels, but I didn’t know how they manufactured them. Awesome video.

[ACustodian]

Had no idea electroplating was this functional. Always thought it was for very small coats/gilding. Never seen it used for manufacturing. Thanks!

[WillCarter]

As a "current year" argument, you can say what you want about engineering, but every generation that built the world before we were born into it deserves our respect and admiration for their genius and accomplishments.

[carazy_]

At first, I was worried that the part would be cast entirely from wax. This is very clever in that it avoids the brittleness of casting—something very bad for the high loading and severe vibrations the part would experience.

[cjhowell]

As a Toolmaker, this is brilliant and I love it

[shawkindustries]

I just leaned the other day how the Saturn V guidance computer was built prior to modern transistors. Engineers back then were built different 🧠

[rgoodsan]

Engineers from the 70s were absolute geniuses. Just look at some of the nuclear weapons and the intricate design details and the ridiculous reliability and safety standards. It’s mind blowing really what they could do back then.

[Sartre_Existentialist]

Wow that's actually an incredible workaround! I can't believe they pulled that off 😮

[davidbrown]

My Grandad was a brass moulder, this was his stock in trade.

[literate-aside]

That practical demonstration is such a powerful aid

[xvpower]

Can't wait for micro thrust testing of the engine!

[austinhixson]

Wow that is super clever and intuitive; you think everything having to do with the space program involves insanely complex manufacturing, but this is such a simple way to accomplish their goals and it's not hard to wrap your head around it at all

[jogswyer]

The ability to design something is always impressive but as an engineer the ability to manufacture things has always been truly inspiring because without that ability a design means nothing!

[McFingal]

That’s absolutely fucking outstanding. I have never been more proud of my profession as an engineer.