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The Heat is On! NASA’s “Flawless” Heat Shield Demo Passes the Test
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By NASA
5 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Note: The following article is part of a series highlighting propulsion testing at NASA’s Stennis Space Center. To access the entire series, please visit: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/propulsion-powering-space-dreams/.
Contrary to the popular saying, work conducted by the propulsion test team at NASA’s Stennis Space Center is rocket science – and requires all the talent, knowledge, and expertise the term implies.
Rocket science at NASA Stennis, located near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, has helped safely power American space dreams for almost 60 years ago. The accumulated knowledge and skills of the site’s test team continue to benefit NASA and commercial aerospace companies, thanks to new generations of skilled engineers and operators.
“The innovative, can-do attitude started with the founding of the south Mississippi site more than six decades ago,” said NASA Stennis Director John Bailey. “The knowledge, skills, and insight of a versatile team continue supporting NASA’s mission and goals of commercial aerospace companies by routinely conducting successful propulsion testing at NASA Stennis.”
Test team personnel perform facility data review following completion of a liquid oxygen cold-flow activation activity on the E-1 Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center on March 23, 2016. Activation of the test cell was in preparation for testing L3Harris’ (then known as Aerojet Rocketdyne) AR1 rocket engine pre-burner and main injector. The versatile four-stand E Test Complex includes 12 active test cell positions capable of various component, engine, and stage test activities for NASA and commercial projects. NASA/Stennis Operators at NASA’s High Pressure Gas Facility conduct a critical stress test Oct. 18-19, 2018, to demonstrate the facility’s readiness to support testing of the core stage of NASA’s powerful SLS (Space Launch System) rocket. The High Pressure Gas Facility was critical in producing and delivering gases needed for SLS core stage testing ahead of the successful launch of Artemis I. NASA/Stennis Test control center crews at NASA’s Stennis Space Center’s simulate full operations of core stage testing Dec. 13, 2019, for NASA’s powerful SLS (Space Launch System) rocket on the Thad Cochran Test Stand (B-2). NASA Stennis conducted SLS core stage testing in 2020-21 ahead of the successful Artemis I mission. NASA/Stennis A sitewide stress test at NASA’s Stennis Space Center on Dec. 13, 2019, simulates full operations needed during SLS (Space Launch System) core stage testing. The 24-hour exercise involved crews across NASA Stennis, including at the High Pressure Water Facility that provided needed generator power and water flow to the Thad Cochran Test Stand (B-2) during testing.NASA/Stennis The NASA Stennis team exhibits a depth and breadth of experience and expertise likely unsurpassed anywhere in the world.
The depth is built on decades of propulsion test experience. Veteran team members of today learned from those working during the Apollo era, who overcame various engineering, technical, communications, and mechanical difficulties in testing the Saturn V rocket stages that powered humans to the Moon. During 43 stage firings, the team accumulated an estimated 2,475 years of rocket engine test expertise.
Members of the Apollo test team then joined with new engineers and operators to test main engines that powered 30 years of space shuttle missions. From 1975 to 2009, the team supported main engine development, certification, acceptance, and anomaly testing with over 2,300 hot fires and more than 820,000 seconds of accumulated hot-fire time.
“NASA Stennis is unique because of the proven test operations expertise passed from generation to generation,” said Joe Schuyler, director of the NASA Stennis Engineering and Test Directorate. “It is expertise you can trust to deliver what is needed.”
A member of the Fred Haise Test Stand (formerly the A-1 Test Stand) operations team examines the progress of a cold-shock test on May 1, 2014. The test marked a milestone in preparing the stand to test RS-25 rocket engines that will help power NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket.NASA/Stennis In addition to depth, the site team also has a breadth of experience that gives it unparalleled versatility and adaptability.
Part of that comes from the nature of the center itself. NASA Stennis is the second largest NASA center in terms of geography, but the civil servant workforce is small. As a result, test team members work on a range of propulsion projects, from testing components on smaller E Test Complex cells to firing large engines and even rocket stages on the heritage Apollo-era stands.
“Our management have put us in a position to be successful,” said NASA engineer Josh Greiner. “They have helped move us onto the test stands and given us a huge share of the responsibility of leading projects early in our career, which provides us the confidence and opportunity to conduct tests.”
In addition, center leaders made a deliberate decision more than a decade ago to return test stand operations to the NASA team. Prior to that time, stand operations were in the hands of contractors under NASA supervision. The shift allowed the civil servant test team to fine-tune its skill set even as it continued to work closely with contractor partners to support both government and commercial aerospace propulsion projects.
An image from October 2022 shows NASA engineers preparing for the next RS-25 engine test series at NASA’s Stennis Space Center by monitoring the reload of propellant tanks to the Fred Haise Test Stand (formerly the A-1 Test Stand). RS-25 engines are powered by a mix of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen.NASA/Stennis An image from October 2022 shows test team personnel ensuring pressures and flow paths are set properly for liquid oxygen to be transferred to the Fred Haise Test Stand (formerly the A-1 Test Stand), pictured in the background.NASA/Stennis An image from August 2023 shows test team personnel inspecting a pump during an initial chill down activity at the E-3 Test Complex. The versatile four-stand E Test Complex includes 12 active test cell positions capable of various component, engine, and stage test activities for NASA and commercial programs and projects. NASA/Stennis An image from September 2023 shows test team personnel preparing for future SLS (Space Launch System) exploration upper stage testing that will take place on the B-2 side of the Thad Cochran Test Stand. NASA’s new upper stage is being built as a more powerful SLS second stage to send the Orion spacecraft and heavier payloads to deep space. It will fly on the Artemis missions following a series of Green Run tests of its integrated systems at NASA Stennis. The test series will culminate with a hot fire of the four RL10 engines that will power the upper stage.NASA/Stennis An image from September 2023 shows test team personnel preparing for future SLS (Space Launch System) exploration upper stage testing by conducting a liquid hydrogen flow procedure. NASA’s new upper stage is being built as a more powerful SLS second stage to send the Orion spacecraft and heavier payloads to deep space. The upper stage will undergo a series of Green Run tests of its integrated systems on the B-2 side of the Thad Cochran Test Stand at NASA Stennis.NASA/Stennis The evolution and performance of the NASA Stennis team was illustrated in stark fashion in June/July 2018 when a blended team of NASA, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Aerojet Rocketdyne, Boeing, and Syncom Space Services engineers and operators test fired an AR-22 rocket engine 10 times in a 240-hour period.
The campaign marked the first time a large liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen engine had been tested so often in such a short period of time. The test team overcame a variety of challenges, including a pair of lightning strikes that threatened to derail the entire effort. Following completion of the historic series, a NASA engineer who helped lead the campaign recounted one industry observer who repeatedly characterized the site’s test team as nothing less than a national asset.
The experienced site workforce now tests RS-25 engines and propulsion systems for NASA’s Artemis campaign, including those that will help power Artemis missions to the Moon for scientific discovery and economic benefits. The NASA Stennis team also supports a range of commercial aerospace propulsion test activities, facilitating continued growth in capabilities. For instance, the team now has experience working with oxygen, hydrogen, methane, and kerosene propellants.
“The NASA and contractor workforce at NASA Stennis is second to none when it comes to propulsion testing,” Schuyler said. “Many of the current employees have been involved in rocket engine testing for over 30 years, and newer workers are being trained under these seasoned professionals.”
For information about NASA’s Stennis Space Center, visit:
Stennis Space Center – NASA
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Last Updated Nov 13, 2024 EditorNASA Stennis CommunicationsContactC. Lacy Thompsoncalvin.l.thompson@nasa.gov / (228) 688-3333LocationStennis Space Center Related Terms
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By European Space Agency
A new European Space Agency-backed study shows that the extreme heatwaves of 2023, which fuelled huge wildfires and severe droughts, also undermined the land’s capacity to soak up atmospheric carbon. This diminished carbon uptake drove atmospheric carbon dioxide levels to new highs, intensifying concerns about accelerating climate change.
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By NASA
4 Min Read Student-Built Capsules Endure Heat of Re-entry for NASA Science
The five capsules of the KREPE-2 mission are pictured on Earth prior to flight. Credits: University of Kentucky. In July 2024, five student-built capsules endured the scorching heat of re-entry through Earth’s atmosphere as part of the second Kentucky Re-Entry Probe Experiment (KREPE-2). Scientists are now analyzing the data from the KREPE-2 experiments, which could advance the development of heat shields that protect spacecraft when they return to Earth.
The mission was designed to put a variety of heat shield prototypes to the test in authentic re-entry conditions to see how they would perform. These experimental capsules, which were built by students at the University of Kentucky and funded by the NASA Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) within NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement, all survived more than 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit during descent.
The football-sized capsules also successfully transmitted valuable data via the Iridium satellite network along their fiery journey. The trove of information they provided is currently being analyzed to consider in current and future spacecraft design, and to improve upon designs for future experiments.
“These data – and the instruments used to obtain the data – assist NASA with designing and assessing the performance of current and new spacecraft that transport crew and cargo to and from space,” said Stan Bouslog, thermal protection system senior discipline expert at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston who served as the agency’s technical monitor for the project.
Taking the Plunge: Communicating Through a Fiery Descent
“The only way to ‘test like you fly’ a thermal protection system is to expose it to actual hypersonic flight through an atmosphere,” Bouslog said.
The self-contained capsules launched aboard an uncrewed Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft in January 2024 along with other cargo bound for the International Space Station. The cargo craft detached from the space station July 12 as the orbiting laboratory flew above the south Atlantic Ocean. As the Cygnus spacecraft began its planned breakup during re-entry, the KREPE-2 capsules detected a signal – a temperature spike or acceleration – to start recording data and were released from the vehicle. At that point, they were traveling at a velocity of about 16,000 miles per hour at an altitude of approximately 180,000 feet.
The University of Kentucky student team and advisors watched and waited to learn how the capsules had fared.
As the capsules descended through the atmosphere, one group watched from aboard an aircraft flying near the Cook Islands in the south Pacific Ocean, where they tracked the return of the Cygnus spacecraft. The flight was arranged in partnership with the University of Southern Queensland in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia, and the University of Stuttgart in Stuttgart, Germany. Alexandre Martin, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of Kentucky and the principal investigator for the experiment, was on that flight.
“We flew in close to the re-entry path to take scientific measurements,” Martin said, adding that they used multiple cameras and spectrometers to observe re-entry. “We now have a much better understanding of the break-up event of the Cygnus vehicle, and thus the release of the capsules.”
Meanwhile, members of the University of Kentucky’s Hypersonic Institute had gathered at the university to watch as KREPE-2 data arrived via email. All five successfully communicated their flight conditions as they hurtled to Earth.
“It will take time to extract the data and analyze it,” Martin said. “But the big accomplishment was that every capsule sent data.”
Members of the University of Kentucky student team have begun analyzing the data to digitally reconstruct the flight environment at the time of transmission, providing key insights for future computer modeling and heat shield design.
An artist’s rendering of one of the KREPE-2 capsules during re-entry. A. Martin, P. Rodgers, L. Young, J. Adams, University of Kentucky Building on Student Success
The mission builds on the accomplishments of KREPE-1, which took place in December 2022. In that experiment, two capsules recorded temperature measurements as they re-entered Earth’s atmosphere and relayed that data to the ground.
The extensive dataset collected during the KREPE-2 re-entry includes heat shield measurements, such as temperature, as well as flight data including pressure, acceleration, and angular velocity. The team also successfully tested a spectrometer that provided spectral data of the shockwave in front of a capsule.
“KREPE-1 was really to show we could do it,” Martin said. “For KREPE-2, we wanted to fully instrument the capsules and really see what we could learn.”
KREPE-3 is currently set to take place in 2026.
The ongoing project has provided valuable opportunities for the University of Kentucky student team, from undergrads to PhD students, to contribute to spaceflight technology innovation.
“This effort is done by students entirely: fabrication, running simulations, handling all the NASA reviews, and doing all the testing,” Martin said. “We’re there supervising, of course, but it’s always the students who make these missions possible.”
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