Credit: NASA
NASA’s Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, or MPCV, is moving forward as the space agency’s deep space vehicle for human exploration.
At the Lockheed Martin Waterton facility near Denver, Colorado, work is underway to integrate the Crew Module and the tower-like Launch Abort System. Once the two elements are connected, acoustical testing of the combined hardware is on the checklist.
The tests will be conducted in the Reverberant Acoustics Laboratory at the Lockheed Martin Waterton facility.
Good vibrations
The Orion stack will be exposed to a series of acoustic tests of increasing decibels that simulate the sound pressure levels that the vehicle will encounter during launch.
Preparations are underway to begin integration of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle Launch Abort System (foreground) with the Crew Module (background) for acoustical testing.
The tests are slated to be conducted in the Reverberant Acoustics Laboratory at the Lockheed Martin Waterton facility near Denver, Colorado. The Orion stack will be exposed to a series of acoustic tests of increasing decibels that simulate the sound pressure levels that the vehicle will encounter during launch.
Beyond low-Earth orbit
NASA made a major judgment in May relating to America’s next deep space transportation system – selecting Lockheed Martin’s Orion design as the space agency’s spacecraft of choice to serve as the MPCV.
“We are committed to human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit and look forward to developing the next generation of systems to take us there,” said Charles Bolden, NASA Administrator in making the announcement.
By Leonard David