Engine length4.24 m
42.4Hand breadths
2.83Standard pool noodles
237Dime diameters
Photo from Wikimedia Commons
Space Shuttle Main Engine (RS-25)
The most efficient liquid-fuel rocket engine ever flown/Engineering Marvels
The RS-25, which powered the Space Shuttle for 30 years, is one of the most sophisticated rocket engines ever built. Each engine produces 1.86 meganewtons of thrust at sea level and operates at a combustion chamber pressure of 20.6 MPa. The turbopumps spin at 37,000 RPM, and the engine achieves 99.95% combustion efficiency. Three RS-25s powered each Shuttle mission, and they are now being used on the SLS rocket.
Measurements
Nozzle exit diameter2.39 m
1.6 tenthsGarden hose lengths
26.9Crayons
31,867Human hair widths
Engine dry mass3,177 kg
127 millionRice grain weights
2.3 hundredthsBlue whales
4.1 hundredthsSpace Shuttle orbiters
Thrust (sea level)1.9 million N
9,300Wine cork pulls
9,300Bicycle brakes
1.86 MN
Chamber pressure20.6 million Pa
22.9Espresso machines
5.2 tenthsDeep sea pressures
20.6 MPa
Combustion temperature3,573 K
7.49Fresh pizza ovens
11.5Human fevers
2.81Kiln firings
About 3300 degrees C
Turbopump speed617 Hz
6.2 thousandthsBat echolocations
123Dog tail wags
53.3 millionEarth rotations
37,000 RPM