New water test capability for NASA LANDIR facility at NASA Langley.

NASA’s Landing Impact Research facility at NASA Langley in Hampton, Virginia has here-to-fore had no capability to study water landing for various modules returning from space. To facilitate that capability, J. B. Denny Company will construct a Hydro Impact Basin on the current site to provide that capability. Although the facility with a gantry crane and various landing surfaces has provided invaluable information for past programs, any experimentation with water impact had to be conducted at remote facilities. The new test feature will be 115 feet long, 90 feet wide and 20 feet deep. The structure is essentially sheet piling and shotcrete anchored with a helical pile system. Construction time will be about six months. Construction is expected to begin in early June, 2010. The first use of the hydro impact basin is anticipated to be part of the Orion project.

Posted: 5/25/2010 [edit]