Local media can hear the sounds of progress on NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) when engineers perform acoustic tests on a 5-percent scale model of the new rocket at 10 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 28, at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
The mini model will be ignited for several seconds, giving important data on how low- and high-frequency sound waves affect the rocket on the launch pad. This testing will show how the powerful noise generated by the engines and boosters may affect the rocket and crew, especially during liftoff. The data will then be used to verify the design of the rocket’s sound suppression system. 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 acoustics engineer Jeremy Kenny will provide an overview of the acoustic testing, and test engineer Ryan Wall will give a tour at Marshall’s Building 4583 in the East Test Area.
News media interested in attending should contact Kim Henry in Marshall’s Public & Employee Communications Office at 256-544-0034 no later than 4 p.m. CDT Wednesday, Aug. 27. Media must report to the Redstone Arsenal Joint Visitor Control Center at Gate 9, Interstate 565 interchange at Rideout Road/Research Park Boulevard no later than 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 28. Vehicles are subject to a security search at the gate. News media will need two photo identifications and proof of car insurance.
The first flight test of the SLS, which will feature a configuration for a 70-metric-ton (77-ton) lift capacity and carry an uncrewed Orion spacecraft beyond low-Earth orbit to test the performance of the integrated system, is scheduled for 2017. As the SLS evolves, it will provide an unprecedented lift capability of 130 metric tons (143 tons) to enable missions even farther into our solar system to places like Mars.
For more information on SLS, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/
