Rocket test stand gets facelift

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EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFPN) --  The rocket test stand used more than 30 years ago for Apollo Moon-mission F-1 rocket engine production testing has been modernized and is ready for use.

Test Stand 2-A is the only Department of Defense stand capable of performing full-scale rocket thrust chamber development testing in the 750,000-pounds-of-thrust class. Its primary use is for the development testing of advanced rocket engine turbomachinery and combustion components, but it can be used for numerous high pressure and flow-rate propulsion systems.

Located at the Air Force Research Laboratory’s research site here, Test Stand 2-A is part of its nearly $3 billion worth of facilities that have provided the nation with rocket propulsion research, development and test capabilities for more than 50 years. Nearly every American rocket-propelled satellite, missile or launch vehicle has been impacted by the technology research, development or testing conducted at the Edwards Research Site, said officials here.

Originally designed and built in the early 1960’s, the test stand have been modernized to current day standards with an $18.5-million, 18-month refurbishment effort. These modernization costs are small compared to the five-year lead time and estimated $500 million in construction costs for a brand new test stand.

The first 40 years of launch vehicle and spacecraft development has been described as the first space age, said Maj. Gen. Paul D. Nielsen, commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory.

“We have done the initial exploration,” General Nielsen said. “Now as we go into the 21st century, we are getting involved in the second space age, where our use of space will grow so much. I’d like to think of this facility, this great investment that people have made, as a facility that is really crucial and key to the United States' development of the second space age.”

The testing of next-generation rocket engine components on Test Stand 2-A is intended to provide more reliable, lower-cost, and higher-performance rocket engines for tomorrow, said officials here.