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The drop tower’s 2.2 seconds microgravity test time is created by allowing the experiment package to free fall a distance of 79 feet (24m).The drop ends when the drag shield and experiment are stopped by an airbag, located at the bottom of the tower. A low gravity environment is created as the package freefalls from the eighth floor to the first floor.
Microgravity experiments are often tested in the drop tower before use on the International Space Station.(487 kg) (drag shield and equipment)ģ8 inches wide, 33 inches high, 16 inches deep (96cm x 84cm x 40cm) 2.2 Second Drop Tower Operational Parametersġ075 lbs. This package is hoisted to the top of the tower (the eighth floor), where it is connected to monitoring equipment (e.g., high-speed video cameras and on-board computers) before being dropped.
Experiments are assembled in a rectangular aluminum frame which is enclosed in an aerodynamically designed drag shield (which weighs 725 pounds, 330 kg). The Drop Tower uses an experiment/drag shield system to minimize the aerodynamic drag on the free falling experiment. The drop tower’s 2.2 second microgravity test time is created by allowing the experiment package to free fall a distance of 79 feet (24 m). The experiment itself falls seven and one half inches (19 cm) within the drag shield while the entire package is falling. The experiment is isolated from aerodynamic drag because it is not attached to the drag shield. A low gravity environment is created as the package freefalls from the eighth floor to the first floor, a distance of 79 feet 1 inch (24 m). This is an important role, given the significant investment required to conduct space experiments in both time and money. As such, the drop tower is used to maximize the scientific return from experiments conducted in space. This may be followed by further drop testing to verify or optimize the design of the space hardware and to identify the best test conditions for the space experiment. The 2.2 Second Drop Tower is “a gateway to space” for many of the microgravity experiments conducted on the International Space Station because these experiments often begin on Earth with exploratory testing in the drop tower. Multiphase flow experiment hardware integrated into a 2.2 second drop tower frame. In this way, NASA conducts microgravity experiments on Earth using drop towers and aircraft flying parabolic maneuvers, and in space using unmanned rockets, and the International Space Station. Microgravity, which is the condition of apparent (near) weightlessness, can only be achieved on or near Earth by putting an object in a state of free fall. The tower has been used forover 50 years by researchers from around the world to study the effects of microgravity on physical phenomena such as combustion and fluid dynamics, and to develop new technology for future space missions.
The tower, which began life as a 100-foot high fuel distillation tower, dangles over a bluff at the Glenn Research Center. The NASA Glenn 2.2 Second Drop Tower is one of two drop towers located at the NASA site in Brook Park, Ohio. Facility Overview Students participate in the Dropping in Microgravity Environment (DIME) event. The 2.2 Second Drop Tower has been used for nearly 50 years by researchers from around the world to study the effects of microgravity on physical phenomena such as combustion and fluid dynamics and to develop technology for future space missions.