Damage was discovered Wednesday evening to one wall of the X-33's composite liquid hydrogen tank currently undergoing cryogenic and structural loads testing at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.
Long considered the major technology challenge for X-33, the tank's test crews discovered the damage at approximately 6:45 p.m. CST while viewing the tank over video monitors, approximately two hours after the completion of a test cycle which appeared to be nominal. At the time, crews were preparing to use a gaseous helium purge in order to secure — or safe — the tank for the evening.
Earlier in the day, the tank had passed a pressure test with a full load of liquid hydrogen, and also a structural loads test to simulate the force of the X-33's fully loaded liquid oxygen tank sitting atop the liquid hydrogen tank. The X-33's internal structure will experience these same loads prior to test flight as the vehicle is fueled while standing vertically on its launch pad. Wednesday's run was the fifth test in a series of validation tests being conducted on the tank.
A joint NASA-Lockheed Martin team is convening at the Marshall Center to analyze the nature and extent of the damage and determine its probable cause. Impact to the X-33 program is not known at this time.
NASA is committed to developing advanced space transportation; a commitment which includes looking at alternative technologies to ensure the success of the X-33.
The Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, CA, is developing the X-33 technology demonstrator under a cooperative agreement with NASA. Alliant TechSystems in Clearfield, UT, and Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, fabricated components for the vehicle's hydrogen tanks while a joint Lockheed Martin-Alliant team working in Sunnyvale, CA, completed the assembly.
Huntsville – October 7, 1999 – Sports cars that speed from zero to 60 mph in four-and-a-half seconds have met their match: A new high-technology track at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., accelerates a model spacecraft from zero to 60 in less than a half-second — with the flip of an electric switch.
