Description of Facilities for Testing Large-Scale Liquid-Propellant Rocket Motors at the ORDCIT Test Station, Muroc

Abstract

The ORDCIT Test Station, Muroc, is a facility for testing liquid-propellant rocket motors delivering up to 20,000 lb thrust. It is located on the grounds of the Muroc flight Test Base, ATSC, in the desert about 20 miles east of Mojave, California. The test station consists of a test stand and control room with supporting installations such as offices, shops, and propellant storage docks. The operating personnel are quartered at the Base, 2 miles from the test station. The test station is equipped to test large-scale rocket motors firing vertically downward for period of time up to 1 1/2 min. Instrumentation is available to measure all the forces on a 6 component motor support system, as well as chamber pressure, propellant consumption, and time. Auxiliary instrumentation is installed to aid in the control of the motors during tests. All data are recorded photographically by cameras trained on an instrument panel in the control room, which is located 60 ft from the motor being tested. A feature of the test stand is the 9-ft square vertical duct into which the jet is directed downward. The duct is approximately 20 ft long and at the lower end has a curved deflecting surface which turns the jet into a trench-like excavation at the back end of the test stand. The deflecting surface is lined with carborundum bricks to resist the heat and erosive action of the jet.