NASA Picks Boeing For Composite Cryogenic Propellant Tank Tests

[NASA News <hqnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Sept. 20, 2011

David E. Steitz 
Headquarters, Washington 
202-358-1730 
david.steitz@xxxxxxxx 

Kim Newton 
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. 
256-544-0034 
kimberly.d.newton@xxxxxxxx   


RELEASE: 11-305

NASA PICKS BOEING FOR COMPOSITE CRYOGENIC PROPELLANT TANK TESTS

WASHINGTON -- NASA has selected The Boeing Company of Huntington 
Beach, Calif., for the Composite Cryotank Technologies Demonstration 
effort. Under the contract, Boeing will design, manufacture and test 
two lightweight composite cryogenic propellant tanks. 

The demonstration effort will use advanced composite materials to 
develop new technologies that could be applied to multiple future 
NASA missions, including human space exploration beyond low Earth 
orbit. 

Boeing will receive approximately $24 million over the project 
lifecycle from NASA's Space Technology Program for the work which 
starts this month. The tanks will be manufactured at a Boeing 
facility in Seattle. Testing will start in late 2013 at NASA's 
Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. 

"The goal of this particular technology demonstration effort is to 
achieve a 30 percent weight savings and a 25 percent cost savings 
from traditional metallic tanks," said the Director of NASA's Space 
Technology Program, Michael Gazarik at NASA Headquarters in 
Washington. "Weight savings alone would allow us to increase our 
upmass capability, which is important when considering payload size 
and cost. This state-of-the-art technology has applications for 
multiple stakeholders in the rocket propulsion community." 

By investing in high payoff, disruptive technology that industry does 
not have today, NASA matures the technologies required for future 
missions, while proving the capabilities and lowering the cost of 
government and commercial space activities. 

Continuing the advancement of technologies required for NASA's 
missions in deep space exploration, science and space operations, the 
composite cryotank demonstration effort will advance the areas of 
materials, manufacturing and structures. 

The tanks incorporate design features and new manufacturing processes 
applicable to designs up to 10 meters in diameter. Tanks could be 
used on future heavy-lift vehicles, in-space propellant depots and 
other Earth-departure exploration architectures. 

"This technology demonstration effort is different in the fact that 
we're focused on affordability concurrently with performance," said 
John Vickers, NASA project manager for the Composite Cryotank 
Technologies Demonstration effort at Marshall. "This technology has 
excellent transition potential for NASA and commercial product lines. 
Critical technology advances such as out-of autoclave composites are 
being matured, and when demonstrated in an operational environment 
will let us go well beyond the state-of-the-art." 

Marshall will lead the project with support from NASA's Glenn Research 
Center in Cleveland; NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va.; 
and NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The composite cryogenic 
tank effort is part of the Space Technology Game Changing Development 
Program, managed by the Office of the Chief Technologist. 

For more information about NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, visit: 



http://www.nasa.gov/marshall 


For information about NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist and 
Space Technology Program, visit: 


http://www.nasa.gov/oct   

	
-end-



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