Although
the mission of the Applied Physics Lab at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center is to
deliver gadgets to support these launch missions and operations, the verdict of
the end users of these technologies dictates which ones are used.
For
example, the space shuttle External Tank (ET) Vent Hood Alignment Tool is used
to align the vent positioned on the ET tip. This “Beanie Cap,” prevents ice
from forming on the vent, avoiding harm during launch. The tool came about
because of the enthusiasm of end user engineer Jorge Rivera, who accepted it
for use. He recognized that it would align the vent safer and faster than
before. Despite management’s concern that it needed additional capabilities,
Jorge recognized that it would perform the job.
With the
tool, alignment can be quickly and safely performed, not only before any
External Tank propellant load occurs, but also after a scrubbed launch.
A tool that
aids in the task of providing leveling to an orbiter in the Orbiter Processing
Facilities after missions was also in demand because excessive access to the
platform system could damage the vehicle. The end user, NASA contractor of
United Space Alliance (USA), Mike McClure, recognized the need for an improved
leveling tool.
This
Improved Orbiter Jack and Leveling System using laser rangefinders was
memorable; when funding was tight, the users and APL took it to the KSC Shuttle
Processing Chief, Michael Wetmore, and fought for upgrades together. “Development
of the Improved Orbiter Jack and Leveling System is an outstanding example of
how groups from different organizations with different responsibilities can
work together to achieve a goal even in times of tight funding,” remembers
Charles Stevenson of the Shuttle Chief Engineers Office.
End user
Mike McClure, worked “hand in hand” with the lab to develop it, remembers
Youngquist. “Without Mike’s support, technically and politically, the system
would never have been built.”
Mr. McClure said, “that is usually what makes or breaks a good project: a champion. You have to be willing to keep pushing.” It is clear why this determination was needed. The orbiter should be raised accurately to the height of the servicing platforms by jacks to a precision of 1/8 inch.Otherwise the orbiter could not get serviced. “From a time-savings standpoint, the laser systems were significant, especially when you add up the number of technicians and Quality Control inspectors involved with our operations,” recalls Mr. McClure.
The system
uses Leica laser rangefinders under the jacks that transmit readings to a
computer. It is literally a vital tool for the orbiter’s safety that would not
have come about without the push from Mr. McClure’s group.
Sometimes
the lab assists the users in improving the equipment they already use. During
NASA's return to flight, the Discovery
shuttle's STS-114 mission in 2005, problems with the External Tank liquid
hydrogen pressurization system occurred.A Tanking Test indicated excessive
helium pressurizing gas usage and the launch was nearly scrubbed.
“The system
was never designed to measure helium, only control pressure. But everyone
wanted to know how much helium was actually being used,” said physicist Stan Starr
of the APL. He worked with Tom Clark of USA to propose a unique calibration of
the system.
Replacing
the existing orifice with one that controls the helium quantity would solve the
measurement problem. “We talked to the top people in the field and they said
the existing orifices couldn’t be calibrated, and even the best lab in the
country initially refused to test them,” said Starr. In the end, testing was
successful; now the quantity of helium is known within 5%.
Similarly,
the Water Extraction Tool (WET), a vacuum system for drying orbiter tiles, is
“a case where hardware is needed for contingencies,” said Dr. Youngquist. The
tool was designed to remove water from Orbiter tiles after the March 2001
Atlantis mission, which was rained on after landing in California.The WET was
developed as a five times faster method than that for drying Atlantis, heating
with infrared lamps.
The tool
now dries 150 tiles in two hours, not days as before. It vacuums water out
through waterproofing compound injection holes in each tile after the compound
is burned away on reentry.
“The
Thermal Protection System (TPS) team laughed when we first demonstrated the
system, it was so much easier to use,” recalls Starr.
TPS
approved of the tool but after we delivered it, they “kindly asked us to keep
our hardware,” said Youngquist, because shuttles are rarely rained upon.
In August
of 2005, Discovery landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California and was
covered with two inches of rain.“When users want something, things can move
very quickly”, said Youngquist.A request for the tool was sent to the lab;
within two weeks, WET was being used in the field.
Another APL
technology that would not have made it into the field without the end user’s
involvement was the SLOT, initiated by window inspector, Robin Floyd.
The Surface
Light Optimizing Tool (SLOT) highlights defects on orbiter windows. The plastic
tool suctions to the window and uses internal light reflection with a prism to
trap light in the glass. Thus small micro-meteor defects on the windows show up
as bright points.
According
to Youngquist, “the best case is when the end user wants to work with you and
develops a vested interest.” Floyd conceived the idea for SLOT but had no means
of fabricating it independently; he teamed up with the APL and jointly produced
the tool when a “meeting of the minds occurred,” said Youngquist.
The result
was the delivery of 14 working SLOT devices which detected hundreds of defects.
The current fourth generation SLOT will soon be adapted for use on the
International Space Station and the Constellation project, which is aiming to send
the Ares I and V crew and cargo launch vehicles to the moon and Mars.
There have
been over total 40 pieces of hardware and eight patents developed at the APL to
assist shuttle program operations in the 19 years of the lab’s operation.
“Technology
is a function of how ardent the customer is on getting the product; it is need
and personality driven,” asserted Youngquist. This may just be the secret to
how innovation impacts the Shuttle Program at KSC and how KSC keeps the shuttle
flying.
Parts of
this content were originally published in NASA Kennedy Space Center’s
publications, “Spaceport News”, Space Times Magazine, and also in the Institute
of Engineering & Technology’s magazine.
NOTE: The views of this article are
the author's and do not reflect the policies of the National Space Society.
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