1. Client Alan Cassell at NASA AMES Faculty Advisor Jay McCormack Mentor Greg Swanson Team Members Matt Arnone, Nick Harris, Matt Hinkelman, Jay Hirata, Matt Mihelish, Alex Swanson

2. Broken Space Shuttle Endeavor tile Electronic Hit Indicator (EHI) testing Micro Meteoroid and Orbital Debris (MMOD) impact testing Test fixture High speed data acquisition Graphical User Interface (GUI) Finite Element Analysis (FEA) simulation Orion Space Capsule Project Description 2 Photo from NASA.gov Columbia 2003

3. EHI Sensor 3 Current takes the path of least resistance

4. Potential Integration Points 4 - Forebody TPS - Backshell TPS - Service Module Extension

5. Specifications and Deliverables  Test Fixture Hold and EHI at a specified distance from the material being tested Support for testing different configurations of thermal protection systems and EHI’s Easily and quickly mount to the 17 caliber gun at the White Sands Test Facility  Hardware High speed (> 1MHz) 128 trace sensor size Plug and play  Software Display impact data in a meaningful way Save data for future analysis 5

6. Test Fixture Design 6

7. Test Fixture Design Cont. 7 Aluminum Collars Electronic Hit Indicators (EHI) Steel Back Plate Thermal Protection System (TPS) Sheet Metal Backing Steel Support Rods Aluminum Clamping Plates Service Module Extension

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9. Finite Element Analysis: Impact Simulation 9

10. To achieve the velocity necessary to simulate an MMOD impact, a 17 caliber 2-stage light gas gun is used. With this gun, the projectile is capable of reaching a velocity of 7 km/s using a 3.4 mm projectile. Test Layout 10

11. Data Acquisition System 11

12. Design Choices  Processing FPGA Microcontroller  GUI Web Based Windows/Linux  Data Storage On-Board Streaming  Data Transfer USB RS-232 Ethernet 12

13. Design Process 13

14. Simulation 14

15. The Board 15

16. Software 16

17. Final Product 17

18. Results 18

19. Results Cont. 19

20. Results Cont. 20

21. Lessons Learned  Carbon fiber process  PCB layout can be difficult  The EHI sensor is a promising and viable technology 21

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