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White Sands Test Facility Workshop - REGISTRATION FOR THIS WORKSHOP IS CLOSED

NASA White Sands Test Facility Workshop and Tour
October 20, 2009

 

Schedule

6:45 am- Meet in Hotel Encanto de Las Cruces lobby
7:00 am- Bus departs hotel
7:30 am- Arrive White Sands Test Facility gate
1:30 pm- Return to Hotel Encanto de Las Cruces

 

The NASA White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) is a center wstf pictureof technical excellence in the fields of high-pressure oxygen systems and materials and rocket propellant safety. WSTF safely performs hazardous testing of reactive, explosive, and toxic materials and fluids; oxygen materials and systems; flight hardware processing; and propulsion altitude systems testing.

Three areas will be featured during the tour:
Flight Hardware Processing
Component Services
Oxygen Systems
The Flight Hardware Processing Workshop demonstrates maintenance flushing and water flow-response testing of a Space Shuttle Primary Reaction Control System thruster. Maintenance flushing, using deionizedwstf image water, is performed on Vernier and Primary Reaction Control System Orbiter thrusters to remove buildup on the valve seats that can cause leakage and ultimately failure and de-selection of a thruster during a mission. The flushing process, developed by the NASA White Sands Test Facility in the early 1990s, is now a standard process used for maintaining all thrusters and can easily be applied to other hardware. Approximately 60-70% of the time, a thruster with an out-of-specification leaking valve can be repaired simply by using the flushing process. Water flow-response tests are performed as one means of verifying that the open and close response times of the propellant valves are within specification. This type of testing can also be used for processing flight payloads.

The Component Services Workshop demonstrates the process used for component refurbishment of wstf imagea gas regulator. Beginning with the disassembly of the regulator and documentation of the item’s condition, it is then repaired, precision cleaned, reassembled, and pressure tested to ensure that it is performing as the manufacturer designed. Then it is bagged, tagged, and returned to the user.
WSTF’s Component Services Section offers a full-service facility for cleaning, refurbishing, and testing hardware. A range of processes exist to clean hardware from oxygen system components that are part of life-support systems, to components that have been exposed to hazardous propellants.

The Oxygen Systems Workshop provides attendees with the opportunity to join the WSTF test team in a live liquid oxygen flammability test, in addition to providing an overview of the fire hazards in oxygen systems.
wstf image
WSTF specializes in the study of oxygen compatibility in space, aircraft, medical, and industrial applications. We investigate the effects of increased oxygen concentration on the ignition and burning of materials and components used in these applications. Typically, fire hazards in oxygen systems are associated with the presence of ignition sources and with materials incompatibility.

Two training courses that WSTF offers for mitigating the fire risk with oxygen systems are: 1) Oxygen Systems: Operation & Maintenance, a half-day course designed for those who assemble, operate, and maintain oxygen systems, and 2) Fire Hazards in Oxygen Systems, a two-day course aimed primarily at those who design oxygen systems.


REGISTRATION FOR THIS WORKSHOP IS CLOSED