The first round of acoustic tests on a scale model of NASA's Space
Launch System (SLS) is underway. The tests will allow engineers to
verify the design of the sound suppression system being developed for
the agency's new deep space rocket.
The testing, which began Jan. 16 at NASA's Marshall Space Flight
Center in Huntsville, Ala., will focus on how low- and high-frequency
sound waves affect the rocket on the launch pad. This testing will
provide critical data about how the powerful noise generated by the
engines and boosters may affect the rocket and crew, especially during
liftoff.
"We can verify the launch environments the SLS vehicle was designed
around and determine the effectiveness of the sound suppression
systems," said Doug Counter, technical lead for the acoustic testing.
"Scale model testing on the space shuttle was very comparable to what
actually happened to the vehicle at liftoff. That's why we do the scale
test."
During the tests, a 5-percent scale model of the SLS is ignited for
five seconds at a time while microphones, located on the vehicle and
similarly scaled mobile launcher, tower and exhaust duct, collect
acoustic data. A thrust plate, side restraints and cables keep the model
secure.
Engineers are running many of the evaluations with a system known as
rainbirds, huge water nozzles on the mobile launcher at NASA's Kennedy
Space Center in Florida. During launch, 450,000 gallons of water will be
released from five rainbirds just seconds before booster ignition.
Water is the main component of the sound suppression system because it
helps protect the launch vehicle and its payload from damage caused by
acoustical energy. SLS with NASA's new Orion spacecraft on top will be
launched from Kennedy on deep space missions to destinations such as an
asteroid and Mars.
A series of acoustics tests also is taking place at the University of
Texas at Austin. Engineers are evaluating the strong sounds and
vibrations that occur during the ignition process for the RS-25 engines
that will power SLS.
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