non-destructive
testing
Extreme Diagnostics evolves to deal with post-9/11 realities. Our Autonomous Health Sensor (AHS) will be a portable, non-invasive testing
system that remotely scans and monitors at-risk aerospace transports,
dams, bridges, roadways and buildings.
running tests
in zero gravity
NASA asked us to design and build a way to measure how fluids behave in
space. Then we climbed aboard their zero-G simulation aircraft to test
it.
remote-controlled
robot subs
We outfitted robotic submarines to collect coastal dynamics data off Florida's
Gulf Coast, and set up a way to control them from our lab in Boulder,
Colorado.
R&D
lab
in a suitcase
NASA needed a way to monitor protein crystals growing on board the International
Space Station. We developed a custom lab—and fit it all into a ruggedized,
portable unit.
Testing the technology in zero-gravity.
NASA's Reduced Gravity Program brings the unique weightless environment of space flight to earth with the goal of developing space hardware, training astronauts, and running engineering and scientific experiments. The reduced gravity environment is obtained with a specially modified KC-135A turbojet transport that flies parabolic arcs to produce weightless periods of 20 to 25 seconds, bracketed by 1.8-g pullouts. The KC-135A also provides short periods of lunar (1/6) and Martian (1/3) gravity. The aircraft cargo bay test area is approximately 60 feet long, 10 feet wide, and 7 feet high. A typical mission is 2 to 3 hours long and consists of 30 to 40 parabolas.
Some operational g-levels and the corresponding time per maneuver (approximations):
— Negative-g: (-0.1 g): 15 seconds
— Zero-g: 23 seconds
— Lunar-g: (one-sixth g): 40 seconds
— Martian-g: (one-third g): 30 secondsThe aircraft is colorfully referred to as the "vomit comet," and functioned briefly as a movie set during the filming of Apollo 13. Since the program's beginnings in 1959, aerospace workers have flown over 80,000 parabolas in support of the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, Space Shuttle, and Space Station programs. We are honored to be among the fewer than 1000 humans to have experienced the ride.
Find out more at the NASA Reduced Gravity Program website.
