Saturn V dynamic test stand, also known as dynamic structural test facility, at the

George C. Marshall Space Flight Center Marshall Space Flight Center (officially the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center; MSFC), located in Redstone Arsenal, Alabama ( Huntsville postal address), is the U.S. government's civilian rocketry and spacecraft propulsion research center ...

Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is the List of municipalities in Alabama, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alabama. The population of the city is estimated to be 241,114 in 2024, making it the List of United States cities by population, 100th-most populous ...

is the test stand used for testing of the

Saturn V The Saturn V is a retired American super heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by NASA under the Apollo program for human exploration of the Moon. The rocket was human-rated, had multistage rocket, three stages, and was powered by liquid-propel ...

rocket and the

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable launch system, reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. ...

prior to the vehicles' first flights. Designated building 4550, it stands tall and is square. Its central bay has maximum dimensions of , and it is topped by a

derrick A derrick is a lifting device composed at minimum of one guyed mast, as in a gin pole, which may be articulated over a load by adjusting its Guy-wire, guys. Most derricks have at least two components, either a guyed mast or self-supporting tower ...

capable of moving 200-ton objects in a radius. An elevator provides access to 15 levels in the structure, and a cable tunnel connects the building to control facilities in the space center's East Test Area. NASA built the test stand in 1964 to conduct mechanical and vibrational tests on the fully assembled

rocket. Major problems capable of causing failure of the vehicle were discovered and corrected here. The new building was so tall that in 1966 when the Saturn V first stage was entering, an observer noted, "Fog and clouds hovered around the top of the tall test stand most of the day while the stage was being lifted from its transporter into place inside the stand, said to be the tallest building in Alabama." quoted in The stand was used to test how spacecraft behaved when put under vibrating and bending stresses, and to test the connections between major stages of the craft. It was declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

in 1985 for its role in the Saturn V program. and In addition to the

Saturn V dynamic test vehicle The Saturn V dynamic test vehicle, designated SA-500D, is a prototype Saturn V rocket used by NASA to test the performance of the rocket when vibrated to simulate the shaking which subsequent rockets would experience during launch. It was the ...

, designated SA-500D, two

test vehicles, ''

Pathfinder Pathfinder, Path Finder or Pathfinders may refer to: Aerospace * ''Mars Pathfinder'', a NASA Mars Lander * NASA Pathfinder, a high-altitude, solar-powered uncrewed aircraft * Space Shuttle ''Pathfinder'', a Space Shuttle test simulator Arts and ...

'' and ''

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'', were also tested in this facility. Space Shuttle Pathfinder OV-098 original configuration.jpg, The Space Shuttle Orbiter simulator is hoisted into the Saturn V dynamic test stand in 1977 Dynamic Structural Test Facility.jpg, The Shuttle ''Enterprise'' is loaded into the Saturn V dynamic test stand for a shake test, c. 1978

References

External links

*
Aviation: From Sand Dunes to Sonic Booms, a National Park Service ''Discover Our Shared Heritage'' Travel Itinerary
{{NASAMSFC National Historic Landmarks in Alabama Marshall Space Flight Center National Register of Historic Places in Huntsville, Alabama

See also

References

External links