A rotary fuel delivery valve developed by a UAHuntsville
team led by Dr. James Blackmon just might help us get manned space flights out
of our immediate neighborhood one day, and he says it could have practical
terrestrial applications.
Dr. Blackmon, a principal research engineer at the
university's Propulsion Research Center, figures that to travel to places like
Mars and beyond we'll first have to decide what kind of fuel delivery system
we'll use to feed the rocket engines and then we'll have to determine how we're
going to rebuild or maintain that system during long stays in space. That's
where the new valve comes in.