The AEDC Space Chambers Test Facility, located at
Arnold Engineering Development Complex
The Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC), Arnold Engineering Development Center before July 2012, is an Air Force Materiel Command facility under the control of the Air Force Test Center (AFTC). Headquartered at Arnold Air Force Base, ...
, contains several test units used for simulating space conditions. The facility has a variety of test cells to accommodate various sized
test articles. Test articles range in size from the sensor level all the way up to full-scale space systems. All test units in the facility are owned by the
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
and currently operated by
Aerospace Testing Alliance Aerospace Testing Alliance (ATA) is a defunct aerospace engineering company in the United States of America. It was the prime contractor of the US Air Force's Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC), in Tullahoma, Tennessee from 2003 until 2016 ...
.
7V
The 7V chamber is a deep space environment simulation test facility designed to test high performance interceptors and surveillance sensors at the conditions of deep space. The facility consists of a 7-foot-diameter by 21-foot-long chamber containing a full gaseous helium thermal shroud. The chamber is surrounded by a Class 100 Clean Room with an adjoining Class 1000 build-up area. The 7V chamber can be conditioned from atmospheric pressure to 10
−7 torr.
10V
The 10V chamber is 10-ft. diam. by 30-ft. long and capable of being conditioned from atmospheric pressure to 10
−7 torr. The test article can be placed in a class 100 clean room while the rest of the facility is housed in a class 10,000 clean room. The chamber itself is designed for testing space senors that look at various objects against the dark sky.
Mark 1
The Mark 1 Test Facility is a 42-foot-diameter by 82-foot space simulation chamber for full-scale space systems testing. The chamber can be conditioned from atmospheric pressure to 5x10
−7 torr. The chamber can support test articles up to 200,000 pounds
[{{cite web, url=http://www.arnold.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=13114 , title=Factsheets : MARK 1 TEST FACILITY , publisher=arnold.af.mil , accessdate=2014-03-02 , url-status=dead , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113225518/http://www.arnold.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=13114 , archivedate=2013-11-13 ]
See also
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Arnold Air Force Base
Arnold Air Force Base (Arnold AFB) is a United States Air Force base located in Coffee and Franklin counties, Tennessee, adjacent to the city of Tullahoma. It is named for General Henry "Hap" Arnold, the father of the U.S. Air Force.
There ...
*
Vacuum chamber
A vacuum chamber is a rigid enclosure from which air and other gases are removed by a vacuum pump. This results in a low-pressure environment within the chamber, commonly referred to as a vacuum. A vacuum environment allows researchers to condu ...
*
Spaceflight
Spaceflight (or space flight) is an application of astronautics to fly spacecraft into or through outer space, either with or without humans on board. Most spaceflight is uncrewed and conducted mainly with spacecraft such as satellites in or ...
References
External links
Arnold Engineering Development Center(official)
Centers of the United States Air Force