NASA Day 13: The Propulsion Systems Labratories
Two days left (maybe 3 if I go to Plum Brook) - it's bittersweet. NASA is awesome, but I'm excited for summer vacation as well.
Today started off in the PSL (propulsion system laboratories), one of the larger labs in the facility where they test engines. I met Jim in the secured facility, which again, means no pictures. In that facilities, different companies team up with NASA to let them test in their facilities. The engine facilities test full scale engines in a mini wind/ice tunnel, or rather two of them. There's test cell 3 which has icing capabilities and test cell 4 which doesn't support icing. Surprisingly, there's no test cell 1 or 2 because they got rebuilt into test cells 3 and 4, which are larger versions built back when NASA had more funding.
I could ask all the questions I wanted to about the facility, but not anything about the engines. The engines themselves are classified to GE personnel, the other test cel was empty at he moment. A test costs several millions of dollars, are scheduled about a year in advance, and take a long time to test an engine. Since NASA doesn't have the money to build and test their own engines, their work orders come from other companies which will pay those millions of dollars to test an engine. Sometimes, GE or whomever will build the engine completely. Sometimes, NASA will do most of the work in building the engine to the designs they are given, and oftentimes, they work together with mechanical and electrical engineers to build and test their engine. We weren't allowed to take our phones into the control room. I had to take off my watch, wallet, and keys as well because you can't have anything In that room that transmits or receives anything. No flash drives, nothing with memory. Basically no electronics whatsoever.
The control room was awesome. There were at least 20 monitors, maybe 30 for the ten people or so that operate the test room. It was a little absurd, but it looked cool and I was able to sit on ergonomic chairs and let my feet rest for a bit. I'm experiencing a lot of general foot pain from walking around all the time. Pain isn't the right word for it, but I'm really not sure how some people are on their feet all the time. I sure couldn't do that.
After that, I'm taken to a guy named Michael, or should I say Dr. Michael because he encouraged me to get a PhD like he did. A lot of people at NASA who didn't get their PhDs said getting one isn't worth it, but Michael begged to differ. Then he proceeded to talk to me about jet engines and how they operated, and my brain was full after that. He was brilliant and was able to communicate super effectively through metaphors, and I have an idea of how jet engines work.
Lunch happened. Dad locked his keys in his car at the Indians game on accident. Accidents happen.
After I met back with Cass, we arrived a few minutes early. I met David and Linda who gave us a tour of the west facilities. I didn't mention it, but I saw a lot of repeat stuff. Vacuum chambers, the small electronics facility, but there were new things. There was one lab in particular which was rather depressing. There's an entire laboratory in a building run by one man and one man only. It's the EMI lab, or the electromagnetic interference lab, where Michael sits all alone in his un-airconditioned cubicle and runs test after test by himself. He knows his stuff, he's been working for over ten years, but he's lonely. He was super excited to show us around though, taking us into rooms, explaining why there's metal everywhere to block any EM signals, or showing us some high tech cardboard that absorbs and deflects signals. Not surprisingly, I didn't have any cell service, and it was rather nice as I thought about what life would be like knowing that if someone wanted to reach me, there was absolutely nothing they could do to reach me and they'd just have to wait until later. Now, if I don't pickup the phone, friends text back asking "why aren't you texting me" - and today, you can't stay isolated from other people for lengths of time without being bothered.
Claire's last day was today - we said our quick goodbyes. I'll miss her the next few days. I have little to no idea what will happen tomorrow. My sponsor is busy most of the day, he has nothing scheduled for me, and the Walsh and is going to Cedar Point after a tour of Plum Brook. So I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. Worst case scenario, I write my senior experience paper after saying hi to a few people there for 5.5 hours, but I'm sure I'll find stuff to do. Until tomorrow!
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| An F-405 Engine being prepared for testing |
Today started off in the PSL (propulsion system laboratories), one of the larger labs in the facility where they test engines. I met Jim in the secured facility, which again, means no pictures. In that facilities, different companies team up with NASA to let them test in their facilities. The engine facilities test full scale engines in a mini wind/ice tunnel, or rather two of them. There's test cell 3 which has icing capabilities and test cell 4 which doesn't support icing. Surprisingly, there's no test cell 1 or 2 because they got rebuilt into test cells 3 and 4, which are larger versions built back when NASA had more funding.
I could ask all the questions I wanted to about the facility, but not anything about the engines. The engines themselves are classified to GE personnel, the other test cel was empty at he moment. A test costs several millions of dollars, are scheduled about a year in advance, and take a long time to test an engine. Since NASA doesn't have the money to build and test their own engines, their work orders come from other companies which will pay those millions of dollars to test an engine. Sometimes, GE or whomever will build the engine completely. Sometimes, NASA will do most of the work in building the engine to the designs they are given, and oftentimes, they work together with mechanical and electrical engineers to build and test their engine. We weren't allowed to take our phones into the control room. I had to take off my watch, wallet, and keys as well because you can't have anything In that room that transmits or receives anything. No flash drives, nothing with memory. Basically no electronics whatsoever.
The control room was awesome. There were at least 20 monitors, maybe 30 for the ten people or so that operate the test room. It was a little absurd, but it looked cool and I was able to sit on ergonomic chairs and let my feet rest for a bit. I'm experiencing a lot of general foot pain from walking around all the time. Pain isn't the right word for it, but I'm really not sure how some people are on their feet all the time. I sure couldn't do that.
 |
| The control room today has even more ceiling mounted monitors |
After that, I'm taken to a guy named Michael, or should I say Dr. Michael because he encouraged me to get a PhD like he did. A lot of people at NASA who didn't get their PhDs said getting one isn't worth it, but Michael begged to differ. Then he proceeded to talk to me about jet engines and how they operated, and my brain was full after that. He was brilliant and was able to communicate super effectively through metaphors, and I have an idea of how jet engines work.
Lunch happened. Dad locked his keys in his car at the Indians game on accident. Accidents happen.
After I met back with Cass, we arrived a few minutes early. I met David and Linda who gave us a tour of the west facilities. I didn't mention it, but I saw a lot of repeat stuff. Vacuum chambers, the small electronics facility, but there were new things. There was one lab in particular which was rather depressing. There's an entire laboratory in a building run by one man and one man only. It's the EMI lab, or the electromagnetic interference lab, where Michael sits all alone in his un-airconditioned cubicle and runs test after test by himself. He knows his stuff, he's been working for over ten years, but he's lonely. He was super excited to show us around though, taking us into rooms, explaining why there's metal everywhere to block any EM signals, or showing us some high tech cardboard that absorbs and deflects signals. Not surprisingly, I didn't have any cell service, and it was rather nice as I thought about what life would be like knowing that if someone wanted to reach me, there was absolutely nothing they could do to reach me and they'd just have to wait until later. Now, if I don't pickup the phone, friends text back asking "why aren't you texting me" - and today, you can't stay isolated from other people for lengths of time without being bothered.
Claire's last day was today - we said our quick goodbyes. I'll miss her the next few days. I have little to no idea what will happen tomorrow. My sponsor is busy most of the day, he has nothing scheduled for me, and the Walsh and is going to Cedar Point after a tour of Plum Brook. So I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. Worst case scenario, I write my senior experience paper after saying hi to a few people there for 5.5 hours, but I'm sure I'll find stuff to do. Until tomorrow!
