Mar 3 2000
From The Space Library
NASA's Glenn Research Center (GRC) in Cleveland, Ohio, opened a new laboratory dedicated to the study of ballistics. The laboratory, housed in the complex's Building 49, featured a 40-foot (12-meter) gas gun that could shoot projectiles at speeds of up to 1,500 feet (457.2 meters) per second. A camera with the ability to capture 2.5 million images per second allowed researchers to observe the behavior of the projectiles and chart the results of their impact on aviation equipment. "The whole idea," Team Leader Dale A. Hopkins explained, "is to watch the impact and see how materials struck by the projectiles behave ... not just whether they survive, but how they deform and fail." GRC had designed the new facility to test materials used for aircraft engine housings and for flywheel containment. Researchers hoped that the new tools would help engineer aircraft that could withstand the pressures of high-speed and high-altitude flight better than those already available could. GRC had been testing ballistic materials since 1980.
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