NASA/Boeing composite cryotank begins testing
The 18-ft/5.5m diameter Boeing-made composite cryotank will be tested at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., USA.
NASA reported on June 2 that engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., USA, recently began the first in a series of tests of one of the largest composite cryotanks ever built. The 18-ft/5.5m diameter cylinder-shaped tank was lowered into a structural test stand at the Marshall Center.
To check tank and test stand operations, the first tests are being conducted at ambient temperature with gaseous nitrogen. Future tests this summer will be with liquid hydrogen cooled to super cold, or cryogenic, temperatures. The orange ends of the tank are made of metal and attach to the test stand so that structural loads can be applied similarly to those the tank would experience during a rocket launch.
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