
HIGH CYCLE HIGH TEMPERATURE STRAIN GAUGE FATIGUE LIFE TEST APPARATUS

The Orion crew module for Artemis I, shown here on May 2, 2019, recently underwent Direct Field Acoustics Test (DFAT) where it was exposed to maximum acoustics levels that the vehicle will experience in space. Spacecraft response and sound pressure data were collected with microphones, strain gauges and accelerometers. The max decibel level was -12dB.

Engineering technician Jeff Howell mounts conventional strain gauges to the Mock Truss-Braced Wing 10-foot model at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. The conventional system data will be compared the Fiber Optic Sensing System developed at the center on the same wing to see how well the testing methods match.

Ted Powers and Ronnie Haraguchi apply shot bags to the wing of the X-57 distributed electric aircraft wing at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California. Tests increased confidence in the wing’s durability and calibrated installed strain gauges for inflight load monitoring of the wing.

Ray Sadler adjusts hydraulic actuators with pads to the wing of the X-57 distributed electric aircraft wing at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in California. Tests increased confidence in the wing's durability and calibrated installed strain gauges for inflight load monitoring of the wing.

The Orion crew module for Artemis I, shown here on May 2, 2019, recently underwent Direct Field Acoustics Test (DFAT) where it was exposed to maximum acoustics levels that the vehicle will experience in space. Spacecraft response and sound pressure data were collected with microphones, strain gauges and accelerometers. The max decibel level was -12dB.

The Orion crew module for Artemis I, shown here on May 2, 2019, recently underwent Direct Field Acoustics Test (DFAT) where it was exposed to maximum acoustics levels that the vehicle will experience in space. Spacecraft response and sound pressure data were collected with microphones, strain gauges and accelerometers. The max decibel level was -12dB.

The Orion crew module for Artemis I, shown here on May 2, 2019, recently underwent Direct Field Acoustics Test (DFAT) where it was exposed to maximum acoustics levels that the vehicle will experience in space. Spacecraft response and sound pressure data were collected with microphones, strain gauges and accelerometers. The max decibel level was -12dB.

The Orion crew module for Artemis I, shown here on May 2, 2019, recently underwent Direct Field Acoustics Test (DFAT) where it was exposed to maximum acoustics levels that the vehicle will experience in space. Spacecraft response and sound pressure data were collected with microphones, strain gauges and accelerometers. The max decibel level was -12dB.

The Orion crew module for Artemis I, shown here on May 2, 2019, recently underwent Direct Field Acoustics Test (DFAT) where it was exposed to maximum acoustics levels that the vehicle will experience in space. Spacecraft response and sound pressure data were collected with microphones, strain gauges and accelerometers. The max decibel level was -12dB.

The Orion crew module for Artemis I, shown here on May 2, 2019, recently underwent Direct Field Acoustics Test (DFAT) where it was exposed to maximum acoustics levels that the vehicle will experience in space. Spacecraft response and sound pressure data were collected with microphones, strain gauges and accelerometers. The max decibel level was -12dB.

The Orion crew module for Artemis I, shown here on May 2, 2019, recently underwent Direct Field Acoustics Test (DFAT) where it was exposed to maximum acoustics levels that the vehicle will experience in space. Spacecraft response and sound pressure data were collected with microphones, strain gauges and accelerometers. The max decibel level was -12dB.

jsc2023e010174 (3/1/2023) --- First design of the new plethysmography system with ECG synchronization, developed in the laboratories of the Dept of Medical Physics and Earth Sciences, Univ. of Ferrara. The sensor consists of a strain-gauge device (black strip at the bottom) connected to the read-out electronics (black box at the top). Image courtesy of Angelo Taibi .

The Orion crew module for Artemis I, shown here on May 2, 2019, recently underwent Direct Field Acoustics Test (DFAT) where it was exposed to maximum acoustics levels that the vehicle will experience in space. Spacecraft response and sound pressure data were collected with microphones, strain gauges and accelerometers. The max decibel level was -12dB.

The Orion crew module for Artemis I, shown here on May 2, 2019, recently underwent Direct Field Acoustics Test (DFAT) where it was exposed to maximum acoustics levels that the vehicle will experience in space. Spacecraft response and sound pressure data were collected with microphones, strain gauges and accelerometers. The max decibel level was -12dB.

The Orion crew module for Artemis I, shown here on May 2, 2019, recently underwent Direct Field Acoustics Test (DFAT) where it was exposed to maximum acoustics levels that the vehicle will experience in space. Spacecraft response and sound pressure data were collected with microphones, strain gauges and accelerometers. The max decibel level was -12dB.

Wesley Li, Kirsten Boogaard and test conductor Eric Miller observe testing of the X-57 distributed electric aircraft wing at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in California. Tests increased confidence in the wing's durability and calibrated installed strain gauges for inflight load monitoring of the wing.

The Orion crew module for Artemis I, shown here on May 2, 2019, recently underwent Direct Field Acoustics Test (DFAT) where it was exposed to maximum acoustics levels that the vehicle will experience in space. Spacecraft response and sound pressure data were collected with microphones, strain gauges and accelerometers. The max decibel level was -12dB.

The Orion crew module for Artemis I, shown here on May 2, 2019, recently underwent Direct Field Acoustics Test (DFAT) where it was exposed to maximum acoustics levels that the vehicle will experience in space. Spacecraft response and sound pressure data were collected with microphones, strain gauges and accelerometers. The max decibel level was -12dB.

The Orion crew module for Artemis I, shown here on May 2, 2019, recently underwent Direct Field Acoustics Test (DFAT) where it was exposed to maximum acoustics levels that the vehicle will experience in space. Spacecraft response and sound pressure data were collected with microphones, strain gauges and accelerometers. The max decibel level was -12dB.

The Orion crew module for Artemis I, shown here on May 2, 2019, recently underwent Direct Field Acoustics Test (DFAT) where it was exposed to maximum acoustics levels that the vehicle will experience in space. Spacecraft response and sound pressure data were collected with microphones, strain gauges and accelerometers. The max decibel level was -12dB.

The Orion crew module for Artemis I, shown here on May 2, 2019, recently underwent Direct Field Acoustics Test (DFAT) where it was exposed to maximum acoustics levels that the vehicle will experience in space. Spacecraft response and sound pressure data were collected with microphones, strain gauges and accelerometers. The max decibel level was -12dB.

The Orion crew module for Artemis I, shown here on May 2, 2019, recently underwent Direct Field Acoustics Test (DFAT) where it was exposed to maximum acoustics levels that the vehicle will experience in space. Spacecraft response and sound pressure data were collected with microphones, strain gauges and accelerometers. The max decibel level was -12dB.

The X-57 distributed electric aircraft wing that will fly in the final configuration of the flight tests completed its testing at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in California. The test above researched the wing's structure under stress of 120% of the design limit. Tests increased confidence in the wing's durability and calibrated installed strain gauges for inflight load monitoring of the wing. From left to right are Eric Miller, Tony Cash, Welsey Li, Shun-fat Lung and Ashante Jordan.

STS048-10-023 (16 Sept 1991) --- Astronaut James F. Buchli poses with the structural test article (STA), a model of the space station truss structure. The STA is part of the middeck zero gravity dynamics experiment (MODE). MODE was designed to study the vibration characteristics of the jointed truss structure. The structural test article includes four strain gauges and eleven accelerometers and is vibrated by an actuator. Assembled by crewmembers in the Shuttle orbiter's middeck, the device is about 72 inches long with an 8-inch square cross section.

A researcher at the NASA Lewis Research Center manipulates cartridge pellets and a strain gauge target as part of a study on the impact of micrometeorites striking space vehicles. Early in the space program NASA researchers were concerned that small micrometeorites would penetrate spacecraft, injure engines, or damage solar arrays. In response, researchers worked to develop stronger materials to withstand meteorite strikes and screens to block the objects. NASA launched a series of experimental spacecraft into orbit with foil shields that were used to determine the number of meteorite strikes. By the early 1960s the experiments and computer modelling efforts revealed that the micrometeoroid threat was lower than previously anticipated.

STS048-09-019 (16 Sept 1991) --- Astronauts Mark N. Brown, left, and James F. Buchli work with the structural test article (STA), a model of the space station truss structure. STA is part of the middeck zero gravity dynamics experiment (MODE). MODE was designed to study the vibration characteristics of the jointed truss structure. The structural test article includes four strain gauges and eleven accelerometers and is vibrated by an actuator. Assembled by crewmembers in the Shuttle orbiter's middeck, the device is about 72 inches long with an 8-inch square cross section.

Orion’s service module for NASA’s Artemis 1 mission was moved from a test stand to a test cell inside the Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 22, 2019. With microphones, strain gauges and accelerometers attached, the service module will undergo acoustic testing to check for flaws, the latest step in preparing for the agency’s first uncrewed flight test of Orion on the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. Artemis 1 will be the first mission launching Orion on the SLS rocket from Kennedy’s Launch Pad 39B. The mission will take Orion thousands of miles past the Moon on an approximately three-week test flight. Orion will return to Earth and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California, where it will be retrieved and returned to Kennedy.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank is outfitted with approximately 89 strain gauges, thermocouples and wiring in preparation for a tanking test no earlier than Dec. 17 on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During the test, engineers will monitor what happens to 21-foot long, U-shaped aluminum brackets, called stringers, located at the external tank's intertank area, as well as the newly replaced ground umbilical carrier plate (GUCP), during the loading of cryogenic propellants. Discovery's first launch attempt for STS-133 was scrubbed in early November due to a hydrogen gas leak at GUCP. The next launch opportunity is no earlier than Feb. 3, 2011. For more information on STS-133, visit www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts133/. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank is outfitted with approximately 89 strain gauges, thermocouples and wiring in preparation for a tanking test no earlier than Dec. 17 on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During the test, engineers will monitor what happens to 21-foot long, U-shaped aluminum brackets, called stringers, located at the external tank's intertank area, as well as the newly replaced ground umbilical carrier plate (GUCP), during the loading of cryogenic propellants. Discovery's first launch attempt for STS-133 was scrubbed in early November due to a hydrogen gas leak at GUCP. The next launch opportunity is no earlier than Feb. 3, 2011. For more information on STS-133, visit www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts133/. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Technicians prepare space shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank for a tanking test no earlier than Dec. 15 on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During the test, engineers will monitor what happens to 21-foot long, U-shaped aluminum brackets, called stringers, located at the intertank, as well as the newly replaced ground umbilical carrier plate (GUCP), during the loading of cryogenic propellants. Teams already have installed environmental enclosures on the tank, removed foam and prepared the tank's skin for approximately 89 strain gauges and thermocouples. Discovery's first launch attempt for STS-133 was scrubbed in early November due to a hydrogen gas leak at GUCP. The next launch opportunity is no earlier than Feb. 3, 2011. For more information on STS-133, visit www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts133/. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

Orion’s service module for NASA’s Artemis 1 mission was moved from a test stand to a test cell inside the Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 22, 2019. With microphones, strain gauges and accelerometers attached, the service module will undergo acoustic testing to check for flaws, the latest step in preparing for the agency’s first uncrewed flight test of Orion on the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. Artemis 1 will be the first mission launching Orion on the SLS rocket from Kennedy’s Launch Pad 39B. The mission will take Orion thousands of miles past the Moon on an approximately three-week test flight. Orion will return to Earth and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California, where it will be retrieved and returned to Kennedy.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Technicians outfit space shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank with approximately 89 strain gauges, thermocouples and wiring in preparation for a tanking test no earlier than Dec. 17 on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During the test, engineers will monitor what happens to 21-foot long, U-shaped aluminum brackets, called stringers, located at the external tank's intertank area, as well as the newly replaced ground umbilical carrier plate (GUCP), during the loading of cryogenic propellants. Discovery's first launch attempt for STS-133 was scrubbed in early November due to a hydrogen gas leak at GUCP. The next launch opportunity is no earlier than Feb. 3, 2011. For more information on STS-133, visit www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts133/. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Technicians prepare space shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank for a tanking test no earlier than Dec. 15 on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During the test, engineers will monitor what happens to 21-foot long, U-shaped aluminum brackets, called stringers, located at the intertank, as well as the newly replaced ground umbilical carrier plate (GUCP), during the loading of cryogenic propellants. Teams already have installed environmental enclosures on the tank, removed foam and prepared the tank's skin for approximately 89 strain gauges and thermocouples. Discovery's first launch attempt for STS-133 was scrubbed in early November due to a hydrogen gas leak at GUCP. The next launch opportunity is no earlier than Feb. 3, 2011. For more information on STS-133, visit www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts133/. Photo credit: NASA/Frank Michaux

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Technicians prepare space shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank for a tanking test no earlier than Dec. 15 on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During the test, engineers will monitor what happens to 21-foot long, U-shaped aluminum brackets, called stringers, located at the intertank, as well as the newly replaced ground umbilical carrier plate (GUCP), during the loading of cryogenic propellants. Teams already have installed environmental enclosures on the tank, removed foam and prepared the tank's skin for approximately 89 strain gauges and thermocouples. Discovery's first launch attempt for STS-133 was scrubbed in early November due to a hydrogen gas leak at GUCP. The next launch opportunity is no earlier than Feb. 3, 2011. For more information on STS-133, visit www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts133/. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Technicians outfit space shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank with approximately 89 strain gauges, thermocouples and wiring in preparation for a tanking test no earlier than Dec. 17 on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During the test, engineers will monitor what happens to 21-foot long, U-shaped aluminum brackets, called stringers, located at the external tank's intertank area, as well as the newly replaced ground umbilical carrier plate (GUCP), during the loading of cryogenic propellants. Discovery's first launch attempt for STS-133 was scrubbed in early November due to a hydrogen gas leak at GUCP. The next launch opportunity is no earlier than Feb. 3, 2011. For more information on STS-133, visit www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts133/. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Technicians prepare space shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank for a tanking test no earlier than Dec. 15 on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During the test, engineers will monitor what happens to 21-foot long, U-shaped aluminum brackets, called stringers, located at the intertank, as well as the newly replaced ground umbilical carrier plate (GUCP), during the loading of cryogenic propellants. Teams already have installed environmental enclosures on the tank, removed foam and prepared the tank's skin for approximately 89 strain gauges and thermocouples. Discovery's first launch attempt for STS-133 was scrubbed in early November due to a hydrogen gas leak at GUCP. The next launch opportunity is no earlier than Feb. 3, 2011. For more information on STS-133, visit www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts133/. Photo credit: NASA/Frank Michaux

Orion’s service module for NASA’s Artemis 1 mission was moved from a test stand to a test cell inside the Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 22, 2019. With microphones, strain gauges and accelerometers attached, the service module will undergo acoustic testing to check for flaws, the latest step in preparing for the agency’s first uncrewed flight test of Orion on the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. Artemis 1 will be the first mission launching Orion on the SLS rocket from Kennedy’s Launch Pad 39B. The mission will take Orion thousands of miles past the Moon on an approximately three-week test flight. Orion will return to Earth and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California, where it will be retrieved and returned to Kennedy.

Orion’s service module for NASA’s Artemis 1 mission was moved from a test stand to a test cell inside the Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 22, 2019. With microphones, strain gauges and accelerometers attached, the service module will undergo acoustic testing to check for flaws, the latest step in preparing for the agency’s first uncrewed flight test of Orion on the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. Artemis 1 will be the first mission launching Orion on the SLS rocket from Kennedy’s Launch Pad 39B. The mission will take Orion thousands of miles past the Moon on an approximately three-week test flight. Orion will return to Earth and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California, where it will be retrieved and returned to Kennedy.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Orbiter Processing Facility, an employee from The Boeing Co., Huntington Beach, Calif., installs a strain gauge on a test panel prior to installation of Thermal Protection System tile on the panel. The test panel and sections of Space Shuttle orbiter Enterprise (OV-101) will be transferred to the Southwest Research Institute for testing after the tile installation is complete. The testing has been requested by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. Sections of Enterprise were borrowed from the Smithsonian Institution's Air and Space Museum where the orbiter is being stored at the Washington Dulles International Airport. Enterprise was the first orbiter built in the Shuttle fleet and was used to conduct the Approach and Landing Test Program before the first powered Shuttle flight.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Technicians outfit space shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank with approximately 89 strain gauges, thermocouples and wiring in preparation for a tanking test no earlier than Dec. 17 on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During the test, engineers will monitor what happens to 21-foot long, U-shaped aluminum brackets, called stringers, located at the external tank's intertank area, as well as the newly replaced ground umbilical carrier plate (GUCP), during the loading of cryogenic propellants. Discovery's first launch attempt for STS-133 was scrubbed in early November due to a hydrogen gas leak at GUCP. The next launch opportunity is no earlier than Feb. 3, 2011. For more information on STS-133, visit www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts133/. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Technicians outfit space shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank with approximately 89 strain gauges, thermocouples and wiring in preparation for a tanking test no earlier than Dec. 17 on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During the test, engineers will monitor what happens to 21-foot long, U-shaped aluminum brackets, called stringers, located at the external tank's intertank area, as well as the newly replaced ground umbilical carrier plate (GUCP), during the loading of cryogenic propellants. Discovery's first launch attempt for STS-133 was scrubbed in early November due to a hydrogen gas leak at GUCP. The next launch opportunity is no earlier than Feb. 3, 2011. For more information on STS-133, visit www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts133/. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

NASA is looking to biological techniques that are millions of years old to help it develop new materials and nanotechnology for the 21st century. Sponsored by NASA, Jerzy Bernholc, a principal investigator in the microgravity materials science program and a physics professor at North Carolina State University, Bernholc works with very large-scale computations to model carbon molecules as they assemble themselves to form nanotubes. The strongest confirmed material known, nanotubes are much stronger than graphite, a more common material made of carbon, and weigh six times less than steel. Nanotubes have potential uses such as strain gauges, advanced electronic devices, amd batteries. The strength, light weight, and conductive qualities of nanotubes, shown in light blue in this computed electron distribution, make them excellent components of nanoscale devices. One way to conduct electricity to such devices is through contact with aluminum, shown in dark blue.

Orion’s service module for NASA’s Artemis 1 mission was moved from a test stand to a test cell inside the Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 22, 2019. With microphones, strain gauges and accelerometers attached, the service module will undergo acoustic testing to check for flaws, the latest step in preparing for the agency’s first uncrewed flight test of Orion on the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. Artemis 1 will be the first mission launching Orion on the SLS rocket from Kennedy’s Launch Pad 39B. The mission will take Orion thousands of miles past the Moon on an approximately three-week test flight. Orion will return to Earth and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California, where it will be retrieved and returned to Kennedy.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Technicians outfit space shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank with approximately 89 strain gauges, thermocouples and wiring in preparation for a tanking test no earlier than Dec. 17 on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During the test, engineers will monitor what happens to 21-foot long, U-shaped aluminum brackets, called stringers, located at the external tank's intertank area, as well as the newly replaced ground umbilical carrier plate (GUCP), during the loading of cryogenic propellants. Discovery's first launch attempt for STS-133 was scrubbed in early November due to a hydrogen gas leak at GUCP. The next launch opportunity is no earlier than Feb. 3, 2011. For more information on STS-133, visit www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts133/. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Technicians prepare space shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank for a tanking test no earlier than Dec. 15 on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During the test, engineers will monitor what happens to 21-foot long, U-shaped aluminum brackets, called stringers, located at the intertank, as well as the newly replaced ground umbilical carrier plate (GUCP), during the loading of cryogenic propellants. Teams already have installed environmental enclosures on the tank, removed foam and prepared the tank's skin for approximately 89 strain gauges and thermocouples. Discovery's first launch attempt for STS-133 was scrubbed in early November due to a hydrogen gas leak at GUCP. The next launch opportunity is no earlier than Feb. 3, 2011. For more information on STS-133, visit www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts133/. Photo credit: NASA/Frank Michaux

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Technicians prepare space shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank for a tanking test no earlier than Dec. 15 on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During the test, engineers will monitor what happens to 21-foot long, U-shaped aluminum brackets, called stringers, located at the intertank, as well as the newly replaced ground umbilical carrier plate (GUCP), during the loading of cryogenic propellants. Teams already have installed environmental enclosures on the tank, removed foam and prepared the tank's skin for approximately 89 strain gauges and thermocouples. Discovery's first launch attempt for STS-133 was scrubbed in early November due to a hydrogen gas leak at GUCP. The next launch opportunity is no earlier than Feb. 3, 2011. For more information on STS-133, visit www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts133/. Photo credit: NASA/Frank Michaux

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank is outfitted with approximately 89 strain gauges, thermocouples and wiring in preparation for a tanking test no earlier than Dec. 17 on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During the test, engineers will monitor what happens to 21-foot long, U-shaped aluminum brackets, called stringers, located at the external tank's intertank area, as well as the newly replaced ground umbilical carrier plate (GUCP), during the loading of cryogenic propellants. Discovery's first launch attempt for STS-133 was scrubbed in early November due to a hydrogen gas leak at GUCP. The next launch opportunity is no earlier than Feb. 3, 2011. For more information on STS-133, visit www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts133/. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Orbiter Processing Facility, employees from The Boeing Co., Huntington Beach, Calif., install a strain gauge on a test panel prior to installation of Thermal Protection System tile on the panel. The test panel and sections of Space Shuttle orbiter Enterprise (OV-101) will be transferred to the Southwest Research Institute for testing after the tile installation is complete. The testing has been requested by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. Sections of Enterprise were borrowed from the Smithsonian Institution's Air and Space Museum where the orbiter is being stored at the Washington Dulles International Airport. Enterprise was the first orbiter built in the Shuttle fleet and was used to conduct the Approach and Landing Test Program before the first powered Shuttle flight.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF), Paul King, an employee of The Boeing Co., Huntington Beach, Calif., installs a strain gauge on a simulated orbiter wing in preparation for Thermal Protection System (TPS) tile installation. The wing, along with sections of Space Shuttle orbiter Enterprise (OV-101), will be transferred to the Southwest Research Institute for testing after the tile installation is complete. The testing has been requested by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. For this initiative, sections of Enterprise were borrowed from the Smithsonian Institution's Air and Space Museum where the orbiter is being stored at the Washington Dulles International Airport. Enterprise was the first orbiter built in the Shuttle fleet and was used to conduct the Approach and Landing Test Program before the first powered Shuttle flight.

Orion’s service module for NASA’s Artemis 1 mission was moved from a test stand to a test cell inside the Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 22, 2019. With microphones, strain gauges and accelerometers attached, the service module will undergo acoustic testing to check for flaws, the latest step in preparing for the agency’s first uncrewed flight test of Orion on the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. Artemis 1 will be the first mission launching Orion on the SLS rocket from Kennedy’s Launch Pad 39B. The mission will take Orion thousands of miles past the Moon on an approximately three-week test flight. Orion will return to Earth and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California, where it will be retrieved and returned to Kennedy.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- On Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians remove a few items from space shuttle Discovery's middeck payload, including food, prior to a tanking test planned for no earlier than Dec. 15. During the test, engineers will monitor what happens to the external fuel tank's newly replaced ground umbilical carrier plate (GUCP) and the intertank's stringers, which are 21-foot long, U-shaped aluminum brackets located on the intertank, during loading of cryogenic propellants. Technicians already installed environmental enclosures on the tank, removed foam and prepared the tank's skin for approximately 89 strain gauges and thermocouples. Discovery's first launch attempt for STS-133 was scrubbed in early November due to a hydrogen gas leak at GUCP. The next launch opportunity is no earlier than Feb. 3, 2011. For more information on STS-133, visit www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts133/. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- On Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians remove a few items from space shuttle Discovery's middeck payload, including food, prior to a tanking test planned for no earlier than Dec. 15. During the test, engineers will monitor what happens to the external fuel tank's newly replaced ground umbilical carrier plate (GUCP) and the intertank's stringers, which are 21-foot long, U-shaped aluminum brackets located on the intertank, during loading of cryogenic propellants. Technicians already installed environmental enclosures on the tank, removed foam and prepared the tank's skin for approximately 89 strain gauges and thermocouples. Discovery's first launch attempt for STS-133 was scrubbed in early November due to a hydrogen gas leak at GUCP. The next launch opportunity is no earlier than Feb. 3, 2011. For more information on STS-133, visit www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts133/. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- On Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians remove a few items from space shuttle Discovery's middeck payload, including food, prior to a tanking test planned for no earlier than Dec. 15. During the test, engineers will monitor what happens to the external fuel tank's newly replaced ground umbilical carrier plate (GUCP) and the intertank's stringers, which are 21-foot long, U-shaped aluminum brackets located on the intertank, during loading of cryogenic propellants. Technicians already installed environmental enclosures on the tank, removed foam and prepared the tank's skin for approximately 89 strain gauges and thermocouples. Discovery's first launch attempt for STS-133 was scrubbed in early November due to a hydrogen gas leak at GUCP. The next launch opportunity is no earlier than Feb. 3, 2011. For more information on STS-133, visit www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts133/. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- On Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians removed a few items from space shuttle Discovery's middeck payload, including food, prior to a tanking test planned for no earlier than Dec. 15. During the test, engineers will monitor what happens to the external fuel tank's newly replaced ground umbilical carrier plate (GUCP) and the intertank's stringers, which are 21-foot long, U-shaped aluminum brackets located on the intertank, during loading of cryogenic propellants. Technicians already installed environmental enclosures on the tank, removed foam and prepared the tank's skin for approximately 89 strain gauges and thermocouples. Discovery's first launch attempt for STS-133 was scrubbed in early November due to a hydrogen gas leak at GUCP. The next launch opportunity is no earlier than Feb. 3, 2011. For more information on STS-133, visit www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts133/. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- On Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians remove a few items from space shuttle Discovery's middeck payload, including food, prior to a tanking test planned for no earlier than Dec. 15. During the test, engineers will monitor what happens to the external fuel tank's newly replaced ground umbilical carrier plate (GUCP) and the intertank's stringers, which are 21-foot long, U-shaped aluminum brackets located on the intertank, during loading of cryogenic propellants. Technicians already installed environmental enclosures on the tank, removed foam and prepared the tank's skin for approximately 89 strain gauges and thermocouples. Discovery's first launch attempt for STS-133 was scrubbed in early November due to a hydrogen gas leak at GUCP. The next launch opportunity is no earlier than Feb. 3, 2011. For more information on STS-133, visit www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts133/. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- On Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians remove a few items from space shuttle Discovery's middeck payload, including food, prior to a tanking test planned for no earlier than Dec. 15. During the test, engineers will monitor what happens to the external fuel tank's newly replaced ground umbilical carrier plate (GUCP) and the intertank's stringers, which are 21-foot long, U-shaped aluminum brackets located on the intertank, during loading of cryogenic propellants. Technicians already installed environmental enclosures on the tank, removed foam and prepared the tank's skin for approximately 89 strain gauges and thermocouples. Discovery's first launch attempt for STS-133 was scrubbed in early November due to a hydrogen gas leak at GUCP. The next launch opportunity is no earlier than Feb. 3, 2011. For more information on STS-133, visit www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts133/. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- On Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians remove a few items from space shuttle Discovery's middeck payload, including food, prior to a tanking test planned for no earlier than Dec. 15. During the test, engineers will monitor what happens to the external fuel tank's newly replaced ground umbilical carrier plate (GUCP) and the intertank's stringers, which are 21-foot long, U-shaped aluminum brackets located on the intertank, during loading of cryogenic propellants. Technicians already installed environmental enclosures on the tank, removed foam and prepared the tank's skin for approximately 89 strain gauges and thermocouples. Discovery's first launch attempt for STS-133 was scrubbed in early November due to a hydrogen gas leak at GUCP. The next launch opportunity is no earlier than Feb. 3, 2011. For more information on STS-133, visit www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts133/. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- On Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians remove a few items from space shuttle Discovery's middeck payload, including food, prior to a tanking test planned for no earlier than Dec. 15. During the test, engineers will monitor what happens to the external fuel tank's newly replaced ground umbilical carrier plate (GUCP) and the intertank's stringers, which are 21-foot long, U-shaped aluminum brackets located on the intertank, during loading of cryogenic propellants. Technicians already installed environmental enclosures on the tank, removed foam and prepared the tank's skin for approximately 89 strain gauges and thermocouples. Discovery's first launch attempt for STS-133 was scrubbed in early November due to a hydrogen gas leak at GUCP. The next launch opportunity is no earlier than Feb. 3, 2011. For more information on STS-133, visit www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts133/. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

Pressure is applied to a test fixture with a nylon fabric sample until it fails at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. The fabric in the test fixture forms a bubble when pressure is applied to the silicone bladder underneath. In this frame, the silicone bladder is visible underneath the torn fabric after it was inflated to failure. A similar test can be performed with a sensor on the fabric to verify the sensor will work when stretched in three dimensions.

The test team prepares a test fixture with a nylon fabric sample at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. The fabric in the test fixture forms a bubble when pressure is applied to the silicone bladder underneath. A similar test can be performed with a sensor on the fabric to verify the sensor will work when stretched in three dimensions.

Erick Rossi De La Fuente, from left, John Rudy, L. J. Hantsche, Adam Curry, Jeff Howell, Coby Asselin, Benjamin Mayeux, and Paul Bean pose with a test fixture, material, sensor, and data acquisition systems at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. The sensor tests seek to quantify the limits of the material to improve computer models and make more reliable supersonic parachutes.

Coby Asselin, from left, Adam Curry, and L. J. Hantsche set up the data acquisition systems used during testing of a senor to determine parachute canopy material strength at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. The sensor tests seek to quantify the limits of the material to improve computer models and make more reliable supersonic parachutes.

Event: SEG 410 Main Wing A Lockheed Martin technician works on the installation of wiring on the trailing edge structure of the right side of the X-59’s wing. The aircraft, under construction at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, California, will demonstrate the ability to fly supersonic while reducing the loud sonic boom to a quiet sonic thump.