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The vibro-acoustic launch protection experiment overview and flight results summary

2004; SPIE; Volume: 5388; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1117/12.547377

1996-756X

Charlotte Gerhart, Benjamin K. Henderson, Steve Griffin, Anthony Lazzaro, Michael E. Evert, Warren McCrary, Emil Ardelean,

Spacecraft Design and Technology

The cost of performing any mission on orbit is a strong function of the cost of getting the mass into orbit and the mass of a spacecraft is driven by the launch loads that the components must be deigned to survive. Additionally, these design loads vary between launch vehicles so if circumstances arise that require a change in launch vehicle significant time and money can be spent in modifying and testing to meet different requirements. Technologies that reduce both the vibration and acoustic environments during launch have the potential to both reduce the design load levels, and eventually equalize them between boosters. To this end the Air Force Research Laboratory, Space Vehicles Directorate in cooperation with the Space Test Program, Boeing SVS, CSA Engineering, and Delta Velocity have been investigating methods to decrease the acoustic and vibration loads induced on payloads by the launch environment and demonstrating them on a sounding rocket launch. The Vibro-Acoustic Launch Protection Experiment (VALPE) mission included an acoustically designed Chamber-Core skin, two passive/active vibration isolation experiments, a passive/active acoustic damping experiment, and an energy recovery experiment integrated onto a Terrier-Improved Orion sounding rocket and launched from NASA Wallops Island. A description of the overall mission, experiments, and general results from the flight test are discussed.