IQ Winter 2012 - (Page 20)

INDustrIAl/process/reseArch fAcIlItIes//stAte of the sector// Construction of the Mechanical Vibration Facility required more than 100 rock bolts to anchor the massive vibration table that will test new spacecrafts in development. launch pad naSa furthErS ItS traILBLazInG rESEarch In SpacE EXpLoratIon BY SIMuLatInG thE StrESSES that VEhIcLES EXpErIEncE In fLIGht. By David absher NAsA’s New vIBro-AcoustIc test cApABIlIty (VTC) facility is a one-of-a-kind testing center designed to replicate the intense shaking and extreme sound associated with launch, emergency abort and re-entry of the vehicles that will one day carry America’s astronauts and equipment to the International Space Station and beyond. Built by Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), the VTC is actually two separate testing facilities: the Mechanical Vibration Facility (MVF), which tests the vibration resistance of objects weighing up to 75,000 pounds, and the Reverberant Acoustic Test Facility (RATF), which measures resistance to acoustic and high-impulse vibration up to 163 decibels (dB). The facility is unlike any other in the known universe. It supports initiatives including the development of the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) that’s slated to replace the Space Shuttle. The VTC complements and expands upon the existing research and testing capabilities of NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Sandusky, Ohio, which simulate thermal, atmospheric and electromagnetic effects on spacecrafts and other equipment. A major component of the Glenn Center’s Space Environmental Test (SET) facilities, the VTC will support future manned and unmanned NASA missions, as well as private research and testing. The initial contract defined project delivery as a design-build “turnkey,” based on requirements stipulated in the contract’s statement of work. Soon after SAIC won the project, however, the requirements evolved and the project as it existed 20 winter//2012 the quarterly publication of the design-build institute of america photo courtesy of naSa

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IQ Winter 2012

IQ Winter 2012