PIA10673: Water Hammer Test


Water Hammer Test

Caption:

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This video shows the propulsion system on an engineering model of NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander being successfully tested. Instead of fuel, water is run through the propulsion system to make sure that the spacecraft holds up to vibrations caused by pressure oscillations.

Background Info:

The test was performed very early in the development of the mission, in 2005, at Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver. Early testing was possible because Phoenix's main structure was already in place from the 2001 Mars Surveyor program.

The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

Photojournal Note: As planned, the Phoenix lander, which landed May 25, 2008 23:53 UTC, ended communications in November 2008, about six months after landing, when its solar panels ceased operating in the dark Martian winter.

Cataloging Keywords:

Name Value Additional Values
Target Mars
System
Target Type Planet
Mission Phoenix
Instrument Host Phoenix Lander
Host Type Lander
Instrument
Detector
Extra Keywords Color, Movie, Water
Acquisition Date
Release Date 2008-05-24
Date in Caption
Image Credit NASA/JPL-Caltech
Source photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA10673
Identifier PIA10673