Help with English term for rocket engine - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: matseng
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 27, 2016, 03:36:37 pm
content: I'm building a non-graphical Lunar Lander game "clone" for the RetroChallenge competition (only a few days left so I'm starting to feel the pressure here).On the front panel I'm having 10 pcs of 4 digit 7-segment displays that shows the gaming info and a couple of controls at the lower part of the console.The lever that handles the main engine of the rocket is easy to name - Thrust seems so be very suitable. But the two smaller engines that causes the ship to rotate... On the mockup I simply named them "Sider burners" but that seems very wrong. :-(Any help with finding a suitable term that is understandable would be greatly appreciated.

author: suicidaleggroll
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 27, 2016, 03:49:20 pm
content: The generic name would be "thrusters". You could put an adjective in front if you want, eg: "maneuvering thrusters", "rotation thrusters", "torque thrusters", etc., or you could call it a "reaction control system":https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reaction_control_systemPersonally I'd just call them "thrusters".

author: Stray Electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 27, 2016, 03:59:24 pm
content: NASA usually refers to the individual thristers as 'maneuvering thrusters" but does use other names. They are a number of them installed on the space craft to permit it to be maneuvered in Pitch, Roll, Yaw axis. The complete system is usually called the "orbital maneuvering system". One system that I worked on referred to the as a "Cold Gas Reaction System since it used compressed gas to operate them instead of combustible propellants. In your case I would be a bit more specific and name them for the axis (Plus or Minus; Pitch, Roll, Yaw) that they act on. From your sketch it appears that yours act only on the Roll axis.

author: HAL-42b
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 27, 2016, 04:06:00 pm
content: In Kerbal Space Program they are named 'RCS Thrusters'. Short for Reaction Control System Thrusters.

author: Stray Electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 27, 2016, 06:03:25 pm
content: The term "Reaction" could be a bit misleading IMO because some space craft use a ReactionWheelto change their orientation. Reaction Wheel is just a heavy flywheel, orientate it's axis to the axis of the spacecraft that you want to revolve around and spin the wheel in one direction and the spacecraft will revolve in the opposite direction. The good thing about a Reaction Wheel is that it doesn't consume any propellant, only electricity, so it's good for craft that are intended to be in orbit for a long time, like the Hubble Space Telescope.

author: HAL-42b
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 27, 2016, 06:20:25 pm
content: In KSP there are both reaction wheels and reaction thrusters. You can use one or the other or both at the same time.The difference is that the reaction wheels (the SAS system) only provide torque to rotate the vessel. The thrusters can provide both torque and translation but they spend fuel.If you only want your satellite to point in the right direction the torque wheels are enough. (Orbits do not decay in the game and you don't have to burn fuel to unload the reaction wheels) Torque does not affect your speed.But if you want to dock to another ship for example you need translation in as well. Being able to control your speed in three axes relative to the other vessel is critical in order to avoid what is lovingly known as 'spontaneous disassembly'.

author: Lightages
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 27, 2016, 06:55:04 pm
content: Lateral Thrusters

author: CatalinaWOW
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 27, 2016, 11:06:33 pm
content: Vernier rockets is a terminology that has also been used. The analogy to Vernier scales is obvious. Attitude control rockets has also been used. Can't say which of the various names mentioned will match the desired overall feel of your game best.

author: HAL-42b
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 27, 2016, 11:13:59 pm
content: Vernier thrusters are a special class of steering engines which point in the same general direction as the main engines but are steerable, while the main engines are not steerable for weight saving / reliability advantages. Best examples are on the R7 'Semyorka' and its descendants like Soyuz etc.

author: matseng
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2016, 01:45:49 am
content: Thanks guys.... For this game I think I just go with "Main Truster" and "Rotation Thrusters" so it will be immediately understandable for anyone that walks up to it.

author: Brumby
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 28, 2016, 01:51:48 am
content: Looking at your layout, that looks like a good choice.

author: Syntax_Error
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2016, 03:52:03 am
content: Didn't read most of the thread, so maybe someone already mentioned this: for liquid engines of this purpose, the usual term is attitude control engines. Might fit well here.

author: matseng
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2016, 04:22:30 am
content: Quote from: Syntax_Error on January 28, 2016, 03:52:03 am"My rocket needs an attitude adjustment, it is giving me a lot of lip." or "Being 50 years old the attitude of my 'rocket' is not what it used to be" :-)But seriously, I think that many non-native English speakers would have a hard time understanding what "attitude adjustment" really means, and it looks very similar to "altitude".

author: Brumby
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 28, 2016, 04:26:13 am
content: It's just a label - you can change it later if you want.But since you have time pressures - and a non technologically pedantic audience as the target - just use what you've mentioned above...... and go finish your project!Good luck with it, BTW.

author: Syntax_Error
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2016, 04:54:27 am
content: Quote from: matseng on January 28, 2016, 04:22:30 amhttps://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjqtOuZ28vKAhULzGMKHWI4DIcQFggdMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FAttitude_control&usg=AFQjCNG3yexfNoUYP_uOsC55uWP4uofLZwhttps://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjqtOuZ28vKAhULzGMKHWI4DIcQFgguMAI&url=https%3A%2F%2Fsolarsystem.nasa.gov%2Fbasics%2Fbsf11-2.php&usg=AFQjCNFEBCk1GKnfhE8m1LJqRB48LPQQkQAttitude refers to the spatial orientation of the vehicle with respect to an outside reference.

author: rdl
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2016, 05:00:44 am
content: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attitude_controlhttps://solarsystem.nasa.gov/basics/bsf11-2.php

author: HackedFridgeMagnet
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2016, 07:38:25 am
content: This may not help but it does combine simple English with Rocket terminology.https://xkcd.com/1133/