Development and Operation of a Microgravity Furnace System for Sintering Experiments
| Autor: | James E. Smith, John G. Vandegrift, Steven L. Noojin |
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| Rok vydání: | 1997 |
| Předmět: | |
| Zdroj: | Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets. 34:104-109 |
| ISSN: | 1533-6794 0022-4650 |
| DOI: | 10.2514/2.3178 |
| Popis: | Microgravity experiments have been performed aboard STS-57, STS-60, and STS-63 with an isothermal hightemperature automated furnace. The equipment for controlled liquid phase sintering experiments-SPACEHAB variant facility was used to conduct powder metallurgy experiments on compacts at temperatures exceeding 1100 ± C. An overview of the evolution of the program from a laboratory mock-up through four sounding rocket e ights is presented, including a description of the hardware that successfully operated during three Space Shuttle missions.Theseaccomplishmentsweretraceddirectlytothedecisionsmadeandnumerouslessonslearnedthroughouttheappliedresearchprogram.Developmentofthehardwarerequiredanextremelyinterdisciplinaryapproach. A continuous path of upgrades was pursued between e ights, increasing capabilities while reducing payload mass and volume.Thisevolutionaryexperiencebaseresultedinsignie cantcostandschedulesavings.Thedesign features of containment and redundancy with the proven e ight performance data minimized expensive component testing and analysis. The hardware was designed with inherent growth capabilities to maximize safety, to promote longterm usage/future e ight opportunities, and to simplify on-orbit operations. The next-generation design scheduled to e y aboard STS-79 (August 1996) also is described. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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