Summary of LaRC 2-inch Erectable Joint Hardware Heritage Test Data

• Published in: NASA Center for AeroSpace Information (CASI). Reports
• Main Authors: Dorsey, John T, Watson, Judith J
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: Hampton NASA/Langley Research Center 01.03.2016
• Subjects: Construction; Large space structures; Manned spacecraft; Mars; Mars missions; Mars satellites; Moon; R&D; Research & development; Space shuttle; Space stations; Space transportation system; Spacecraft structures; Struts; Telescopes

As the National Space Transportation System (STS, also known as the Space Shuttle) went into service during the early 1980's, NASA envisioned many missions of exploration and discovery that could take advantage of the STS capabilities. These missions included: large orbiting space stations, large space science telescopes and large spacecraft for manned missions to the Moon and Mars. The missions required structures that were significantly larger than the payload volume available on the STS. NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) conducted studies to design and develop the technology needed to assemble the large space structures in orbit. LaRC focused on technology for erectable truss structures, in particular, the joint that connects the truss struts at the truss nodes. When the NASA research in large erectable space structures ended in the early 1990's, a significant amount of structural testing had been performed on the LaRC 2-inch erectable joint that was never published. An extensive set of historical information and data has been reviewed and the joint structural testing results from this historical data are compiled and summarized in this report.