3 Types of Rocket Engines Used for Space Travel that Undergo Aviation Borescope Inspections
Space travel almost seems like its routed in pure magic, but a ton of engineering and highly advanced parts go into to make this ‘magic’ actually possible. Whether it's manned or unmanned space crafts, each craft that goes into space represents decades of development and the best of what design and implementation amongst the human race. These space crafts are not made to last forever, most of them actually retire at a pretty low flight time, measuring in hours, because of what kinds of stresses are put on spacecraft to reach their destination, and then return.
Engines That Power the Crafts
The real hero of any craft made for space is the rocket engine. An engine made to power a spacecraft has to be the best of what mankind has to offer. These engines have to carry a massive structure beyond anything even the largest commercial airline has to undergo. Due to this, inspection is intense, frequent, and usually somewhat daunting to the operator. With the use of an aviation borescope , these extremely powerful engines can be inspected without complete teardown before and after each flight, and even while a crew is up in space on a mission.
Kinds of Engines That Require Inspection the Most
Rocket engines fall into a category of spacecraft propulsion known as reaction engines. A reaction engine achieves propulsion by expelling mass. Most rocket engines are internal combustion engines, but non-combusting forms do exist. These kinds of engines don’t need external material to operate, and they basically perform in a vacuum to propel spacecraft and the occasional ballistic missile.

When it comes to rocket engines, there are a few different types, all of which use video borescopes for inspection so they can relay information to the user for repairs, maintenance, and simply just recording data. By doing so, the operator doesn’t have to physically tear down the rocket to get a visual on the components. Here are three common types of rocket engines that are routinely inspected with an aviation borescope: