It is inevitable. Spaceflight hardware tests sometimes lead to explosive results.
In the most recent example, aerospace giant Lockheed Martin recently completed a successful blast test of the company’s under-scale inflatable space module. The test was conducted at the Lockheed facility in Denver, Colorado on June 14 on the same test rig used for the historic Titan rocket.
Before it exploded, the inflatable module reached a pressure of 253 psi, about six times the module’s rated operating pressure. This was the second such test that Lockheed Martin has performed on its inflatable space habitat technology. The same procedure was conducted on a similar form in December last year. The outcome of this second test validates the results measured in the first and allows Lockheed to proceed with further developments for their full-scale projects.
Related: Under pressure! Watch a Lockheed Martin inflatable space habitat explode (video)
One “striking difference” the company noted between the first test and the most recent was the unexpected launch of the module’s testbed, which broke free of its confines and was launched into the air when the habitat exploded. . A statement from Lockheed praised the event, saying it demonstrated “how much energy this inflatable structure is capable of holding.”
The company’s inflatable habitat concept was developed as part of NASA’s NextSTEP program, which aims to advance technologies that enable sustained human spaceflight beyond low Earth orbit (LEO). NASA’s Artemis program will send a crewed mission around the moon in late 2024 to Artemis 2 and a crewed mission to the lunar surface to Artemis 3 in 2025.
While those missions are epic feats in themselves, the space agency is essentially using them as stepping stones to build a permanent presence in orbit around the moon and on the surface, which in turn will help develop the technologies needed for future excursions. on Mars.
Inflatable habitats like the one Lockheed is creating are ideal for space infrastructure due to their light weight and small initial size. For any space launch, weight is critical. The lighter a particular payload is, the easier it is to physically break free from Earth orbit. Rather than hauling heavy, rigid units into orbit, like most of the habitats used to build the International Space Station (ISS), the small, easily transportable versatility of inflatable modules offers a cost-effective and more efficient answer to building large-scale structures in the space.
“System-level testing is one of the best ways to demonstrate our design and manufacturing techniques while providing thousands of critical data points for improvements and upgrades as we develop the technology,” said Jonathan Markcity, senior systems Lockheed Martin engineer. . Lockheed engineers built the soft part of the inflatable under-staircase in an 8-week time frame, while manufacturing the rest of the module completely in-house.
Now that Lockheed Martin has completed its second subscale burst test, the company needs to validate the durability of the facility’s operational capabilities. From there, Lockheed will move to full-scale blast tests and incorporate other necessary components such as hatches, windows and other life support materials.
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Image Source : www.space.com