...Aerospace Technology Services
Ultra-High-Pressure Test Facility:
The MSE Mike Mansfield Advanced Technology Center in Butte, MT, is home to the nation's only research facility designed to develop materials to build the world's first hypersonic wind tunnel. In 1998, congress combined separate NASA and U.S. Air Force hypersonic wind tunnel research projects into one called the MARIAH II (now called Mariah). MSE is the primary integrating contractor for the project.
The goal of the Mariah Program is to maintain the nation's historic lead at the cutting edge of aviation and space flight technology. With its ability to operate under flight conditions at velocities in the Mach 8-12 range (8-12 times the speed of sound), the Mariah wind tunnel will help maintain the nation's historic lead at the cutting edge of aviation and space flight technology. The prototype will be the world's first operational hypersonic wind tunnel and will provide the nation with a valuable test asset for developing and testing components for reliable anti-missile systems, advanced space vehicles, and advanced military and commercial aircraft.
Record breaking work:
Current:
The Ultrahigh-Pressure Test Facility at the Mike Mansfield Advanced Technology Center set a world record for large volume, long duration compression of air to 186,000 pounds per square inch (psi). Subsequently, MSE has tested with air to 200,000 psi in a 2-liter vessel and held these pressures for minutes. This accomplishment represents the first time pressures of this magnitude have been achieved with air outside of the laboratory (large scale and long duration).
Prior Records:
In 2003 the Aerospace crew gave U.S. Senator Conrad Burns, R-Montana, another chance to see the demonstration - at a lower psi. This pressure test blew a dime-size hole in a CD-sized piece of steel. It took about 30,000 pounds of pressure per square inch to create the hole.
"This facility has a double edge," Burns told about 50 technicians and staff gathered at the test. "It will be used to test materials for flight, for aerospace. And it will be research for the next generation."
The Mariah program is the nation's only research facility that is designed to develop the materials necessary to build the world's first hypersonic wind tunnel. The large-scale tunnel will be used to test materials for space launch vehicles, global-reach aircraft and intercontinental missiles that can reach speeds up to Mach 12. The space shuttle, for example re-enters the Earth's atmosphere at that speed and greater.
There have been about 100 tests on the Butte model so far. While the center employs about 20 engineers and spends up to $4 million a year, there are many more craftsmen involved with developing the various components for the project.
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