READY FOR ROCKET WORK APOLLO RELIC BACK IN ACTION.Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. - Air Force and state officials celebrated the conclusion of a $12.6 million refurbishing project for Edwards Air Force Base's largest and most historic rocket test stand. Friday's ceremony marked the recommissioning of test stand 1-D, a 15-story-tall stand used to test engines for Apollo moon missions and mothballed since the 1970s. ``This is something we've been waiting on for a long time,'' said Col. Joseph Boyle, commander of what is properly known as the Air Force Research Laboratory Propulsion Directorate but is more commonly referred to at Edwards as the rocket lab. 1-D's modernization allows it to accommodate the three main types of modern rocket booster engines: hydrogen, solid-propellant and kerosene kerosene or kerosine, colorless, thin mineral oil whose density is between 0.75 and 0.85 grams per cubic centimeter. A mixture of hydrocarbons, it is commonly obtained in the fractional distillation of petroleum as the portion boiling off , officials said. The project, financed by a federal grant, will help California compete for rocket work in coming years, officials say. ``This keeps the capability in California,'' said Bob Davis
n. An installation for sheltering, testing, maintaining, and launching spacecraft. authority. ``It benefits our industry partners, and it keeps the work in California.'' There are no firm projects lined up, but possibilities are being discussed. Boeing's Rocketdyne division might use the test stand for its RS-27 engine for the Delta II This article is about the rocket. For the submarine see Delta class submarine. Delta II is a space launch system originally designed and built by McDonnell Douglas, then later built by Integrated Defense Systems division of Boeing. booster, according to company officials. Aerojet, based in Sacramento, is looking at the test stand for two Russian engines, the NK-33 and RD-180. The refurbishing work included bringing the test stand up to modern environmental requirements and modernizing propellant pro·pel·lant also pro·pel·lent n. 1. Something, such as an explosive charge or a rocket fuel, that propels or provides thrust. 2. , electrical, plumbing and instrumentation systems. The stand's deluge system, which sprays water to keep it cool during firings, was fitted with a recycling system so the water can be reused. Made of concrete and steel and located at the northern end of rocky Leuhman Ridge overlooking Rogers Dry Lake, the stand will be capable of holding booster rockets with up to 1.5 million pounds of thrust for test firings. Edwards' rocket laboratory contains two-thirds of the nation's high-thrust rocket test stands, as well as facilities for testing satellite propulsion systems, propellant formulation laboratories and manufacturing labs. Sverdrup Technology was the prime contractor for the modernization. Booz Allen Hamilton Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc., referred to as Booz Allen is one of the oldest strategy consulting firms in the world.[1] The firm formerly had two consulting divisions: WCB (Worldwide Commercial Business, also known as “The Commercial Side”) and WTB , a management consulting firm, provided management assistance for the engineering, design and execution. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) Test stand 1-D holds a rocket engine for a test firing in this file photo from the 1960s. U.S. Air Force |
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