HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Media are invited to attend an unveiling ceremony at 10 a.m. Tuesday, March 30, for the first, full-scale friction stir welded and spun-formed tank dome designed for use in large liquid propellant at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.
NASA’s Marshall Center and Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., partnered with Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver, Colo., and MT Aerospace in Augsburg, Germany, to push the envelope in dome manufacturing by making use of existing commercial materials and cutting edge technology to create this one of a kind tank dome.
This 18-foot dome was developed using two novel manufacturing processes and aluminum lithium 2195, which incorporates a lighter weight material, significantly reducing the number of pieces needed to create a tank dome, eliminates numerous complex welding, machining and inspection steps and can be used on any large liquid propellant tank with greater reliability and lower costs.
Spokespeople on hand for the event are:
- Peter Curreri, technical lead for the friction stir weld spun form dome project at Marshall
- Sandeep Shah, upper stage manufacturing and assembly sub-system manager at Marshall
- Louis Lollar, programmatic lead for the friction stir weld spun form dome project at Marshall
- Eric Hoffman, technical lead for the friction stir weld spun form dome project at Langley
- Jeb Brewster, Lockheed Martin principal investigator for the friction stir weld spun form dome project.
News media interested in covering the event should contact Kim Newton in the Marshall Public and Employee Communications Office at 256-544-0371 no later than 1 p.m. Monday, March 29. Media must report to the Redstone Visitor Center at Gate 9, Interstate 565 interchange at Rideout Road/Research Park Boulevard. Vehicles are subject to a security search at the gate. News media will need two photo identifications and proof of car insurance.
For more information visit: http://www.nasa.gov
