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Music

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What we’re building is the MSA

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Diaphragm, and what this is, is

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it fits between the propellant

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stage of the rocket and the

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Orion capsule.  This is a very

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important barrier that we need

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to have on this rocket to keep

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the hazardous coming of the

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propellant stage from getting up

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into the Orion capsule.

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The diaphragm is 100% composite

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structure, that is a fabric that

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is a carbon fiber fabric with epoxy.

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And when this is all put together

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it makes for a very strong, very

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light weight structure, and

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that’s key for space flight.

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Well this is the flight diaphragm

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that will actually fly in the

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first Orion, the EFT1 flight test.

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And with any new structure we

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have to proof test it to make

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sure it can withstand the

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structural capability of the

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flight loads, which also includes

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thermal loads, inertial loads.

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So the main design drivers for

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the diaphragm were to handle

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launch loads which can be up

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to 5 Gs, and also a pressure

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difference between the propellant

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stage and the Orion capsule.

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And so that pressure difference

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is what we are testing here today.

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When you’re dealing with composites,

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it’s a very process sensitive

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material to use, and so every time

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that you use composites you

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really need to get acceptance

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from the engineering community

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about how to fabricate and test

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the composite that you are using.

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So that has been the most

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challenging thing I think is to

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really develop a road map that the

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engineering community can get

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buy-in to and to prove out that

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the design that we are making and

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that the analysis that we are

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showing is good; can be

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substantiated by tests.

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We actually installed tri-axial

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string gauges so measures any

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strain that the article sees and

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that way the test requester can

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watch the data in real-time as we

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are applying load, and make sure

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that it’s not exceeding any kind

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of strain that he predicted.

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There is a bench mark in using

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composites in this way. It’s the

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largest structure made entirely of

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composite that NASA has endorsed

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to be put on a space craft.

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And working inter center to develop

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that, to make that a reality is a

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key milestone to how we’re going

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to be doing rockets in the future.

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And I think a lot of people are

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going to be looking back on this

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partnership for future development