SERVICES
Jupiter and one of its moons, viewed by the New Horizons spacecraft as it flies by on its way to Pluto. ADL provided fuel-slosh testing on the launch vehicle. Photo: NASA
What ADL can do
-
Develop and test scale models to determine the effects of fuel slosh on spin-stabilized spacecraft and stages
-
Design and test tank baffles to suppress fuel-slosh effects
-
Provide a dedicated drop tower facility for microgravity experiments
-
Test and analyze propellant-migration induced instability for inertia ratios greater than unity (the wobble-amplification problem
Systems tested by ADL
-
Spacecraft/stages with multiple off-axis tanks
-
Stages with centerline tanks
-
Mono- and bi-propellant systems
-
Flexible propellant management devices (PMDs)
-
Large dynamic imbalances and migrating propellants
-
Tanks with flexible diaphragms
ADL's Data Acquisition
-
Special high-bandwidth infrared telemetry system for drop tower tests
-
Space-qualified infrared telemetry system which flew aboard the space shuttle as part of a mid-deck experiment
-
Infrared telemetry system used in free-flying experiments aboard NASA's KC-135 ("zero-gravity") airplane
-
Micro-computer-based data storage system used aboard free-flying, rocket-propelled rockets
Reference Papers
-
Mercury Messenger: Discusses drop tests and baffle design conducted at ADL.
-
Deep Space One: Describes the modeling, analysis and testing of the diaphragm tanks done at ADL to determine the Deep Space One nutation time constant.
-
"Analysis of spacecraft nutation dynamics using the drop test method," by Jon V. Harrison, Space Communications and Broadcasting 5 (1987) 265-280.
-
"Nutation Time Constant Determination of On-Axis Diaphragm Tanks on Spinner Spacecraft," by Marco B. Quadrelli, Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, Vol. 42, No. B. May-June: 2005. Presented as Paper 2009-0155 at the AAS/ATAA 13th Spacecraft Mechanics Meeting, Ponce, PR. 9-10 February 2008. Copyright 2004 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
-
"A Free Fall Technique to Measure Nutation Divergence and Applications," J. Harrison (consultant), S.C. Garg, N. Furumoto, Ford Aerospace and Communications Corp., Palo Alto, Calif, AAS/ATAA Astrodynamics Specialist Conference, Lake Placid, NY., August 1988.
-
Circular Constrained Particle Motion in Spinning and Coning Bodies." D.L. Mingori, University of California, Los Angeles, and J. Harrison, Hughes Aircraft Co., El Segundo, Calif.; AIAA Journal, Vol. 12, No. 11, November 1974, pp. 1558-1558.