PURPOSE IS TO ADD DESCRIPTION: THE MARS SCIENCE LABORATORY (MSL), SCHEDULED FOR LAUNCH IN 2009, WILL INCORP…

Public award description

PURPOSE IS TO ADD DESCRIPTION: THE MARS SCIENCE LABORATORY (MSL), SCHEDULED FOR LAUNCH IN 2009, WILL INCORPORATE PRESSURE MEASUREMENT INSTRUMENTATION IN THE HEAT SHIELD TO MEASURE THE SURFACE PRESSURE RESPONSE DURING THE ENTRY, DESCENT, AND LANDING (EDL) PHASE IN THE MARTIAN ATMOSPHERE. THE MSL ENTRY, DESCENT, AND LANDING INSTRUMENTATION (MEDLI) / MARS ENTRY ATMOSPHERE DATA SYSTEM (MEADS) PROGRAM WILL INCORPORATE PRESSURE PORTS THROUGH THE EXTERNAL HEAT SHIELD CONNECTED TO PRESSURE TRANSDUCERS INTERNAL TO THE SPACECRAFT TO MEASURE THE PRESSURE RESPONSE ON THE SURFACE OF THE HEAT SHIELD. THE ARC JET TESTS AT THE BOEING LARGE CORE ARC TUNNEL (LCAT) WILL EVALUATE VARIOUS SIZE PRESSURE PORTS IN THE SUPER LIGHTWEIGHT ABLATOR (SLA) 561V HEAT SHIELD MATERIAL AT RELEVANT ENTRY HEATING RATES. THIS TEST PLAN DETAILS THE TEST OBJECTIVES, TEST REQUIREMENTS, AND TEST CONDITIONS TO EVALUATE STAGNATION FLOW PERFORMANCE OF VARIOUS PRESSURE PORT DIAMETERS IN THE BOEING LCAT ARC JET TEST FACILITY. A TOTAL OF 14 TEST RUNS AND 3 CALIBRATION RUNS ARE PLANNED FOR THE LATE JANUARY-EARLY FEBRUARY 2007 TIME FRAME. 2.0 TEST OBJECTIVES THE PRIMARY TEST OBJECTIVE IS TO EVALUATE PRESSURE PORT PERFORMANCE IN THE MSL HEAT SHIELD UNDER SIMULATED MSL ENTRY AEROHEATING CONDITIONS. SEVERAL PRESSURE PORT DIAMETERS WILL BE EVALUATED FROM 0.100-INCH DIAMETER AT THE LARGEST TO 0.040-INCH DIAMETER AT THE SMALLEST AT VARIOUS HEATING RATES WHICH SIMULATE VARIOUS LOCATIONS ON THE MSL HEAT SHIELD. THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE IS TO SELECT A POTENTIAL PRESSURE PORT SIZE FOR FURTHER TESTING AND EVALUATION. 3.0 TEST APPROACH BOEING SHALL CONDUCT FOURTEEN STAGNATION TESTS TO EVALUATE PRESSURE PORT DIAMETER UNDER RELEVANT HEATING CONDITIONS. IN ADDITION, BOEING SHALL CONDUCT A MAXIMUM OF THREE CALIBRATION RUNS TO VERIFY FACILITY TEST CONDITIONS PRIOR TO INITIAL TESTING AND FOLLOWING EACH FACILITY TEST CHANGE. BOEING SHALL CONDUCT THE TEST MATRIX FOR THE FOURTEEN (14) RUNS AS PRESENTED IN TABLE 1. BOEING SHALL TEST TWO MODELS PER TEST RUN WHICH ARE LABELED MODEL A AND MODEL B IN THE TEST MATRIX. THIS MATRIX IS NOT OPTIMIZED IN THE MOST EFFICIENT ORDER THAT WILL RESULT IN THE FEWEST FACILITY CHANGES AND SHORTEST SCHEDULE. BOEING SHALL RECOMMEND THE OPTIMIZED TEST ORDER. BOEING SHALL IMPLEMENT THE OPTIMIZED TEST ORDER AFTER CONCURRENCE WITH THE LANGLEY ARC JET TEST LEAD. THE TESTING SHALL BE COMPLETED WITHIN 9 BUSINESS DAYS OF RECEIPT OF THE TEST ARTICLES. TABLE 1. MEDLI/MEADS BOEING LCAT ARC JET TEST MATRIX 4.0 TEST REQUIREMENTS 4.1 TEST CONDITIONS