SATEC Series Custom 600 KN Tests Seals for NASA Orion Spacecraft

Functional testing recently began on seals for future Low Impact Docking Systems at NASA Glenn Research Center’s Space Exploration Seal Laboratory in Cleveland, Ohio. In support of future missions to the International Space Station, testing is being carried out on large diameter (approximately 50 in) docking system seals using our custom 600 kN (135,000 lbf) universal testing machine.

The testing frame, combined with a specialized fixture designed and built by NASA, simulates the environmental, thermal, and loading conditions for testing seal concepts. The seal is placed in the fixture and the system exerts compressive forces, temperatures, and pressures expected during use. Of particular interest are leakage rates and the compressive and adhesion loads between the seal and the mating surface. The fixture is designed to replicate extreme temperature conditions (-65° to +100° C) typically found in space, as well as flow tests to determine the leakage of breathable air.

The frame's t-slot platens are needed to meet stringent parallelism and flatness requirements to provide a highly precise and repeatable testing platform. Baseline testing will be conducted under precisely aligned conditions and offsets will be introduced later to test the non-optimal conditions likely to be found in space. In addition, the system had to meet a preset time versus position profile within +/- 0.0005 in (0.013 mm) that mimics the motion of the spacecraft as it docks and undocks from the space station.