Health Monitoring of Reusable Rocket Engines

An extensive study of liquid propellant rocket engine test and flight history data has produced methods for advanced health monitoring currently under development for application to the Advanced Shuttle, National Aero-Space Plane, and other future propulsion systems. Advanced Health Monitoring is a systematic approach to instrumentation design and development, signal processing, and knowledge-based strategies to infer the operating status of any engine component or system. Properly implemented, Advanced Health Monitoring increases safety and the probability of mission success, significantly reduces turnaround time and maintenance cost, prolongs component life and reduces life-cycle cost.