Commercial launch providers continue to advance propulsion technology with a renewed focus on liquid oxygen and methane propelled rockets and spacecraft.
As systems grow in scale, carrying millions of pounds of propellant, so too does the responsibility to fully understand the safety profile.
NASA has a proven ability to safely execute high-risk testing
Joe Schuyler
Director, NASA Stennis Engineering and Test Directorate
Engineers at NASA, with decades of cryogenic and test operations expertise, are conducting a final series of tests to quantify the explosive yield at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. The data collected will provide knowledge that helps government and industry prepare with confidence.
“NASA has a proven ability to safely execute high-risk testing,” said Joe Schuyler, director, Engineering and Test Directorate, at the agency’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. “This work shows how our expertise with cryogenic systems can go beyond propulsion testing and beyond our center to execute for the mission.”
The team is in the middle of this final test series to collect data to develop safety protocols for a tri-agency team effort consisting of NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the United States Space Force.
The test articles, developed by a team at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, model a generic fuel storage tank with liquid oxygen and methane separated by a common bulkhead. The tests will evaluate explosion hazards across three scales, based on propellant weights of 100 pounds, 2,000 pounds, and 20,000 pounds.
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